Book Review

A book review is a summary of my thoughts, feelings, and impression of a book.

#BookReview Never Planned on You by Lindsay Hameroff @YouHadMeAtHEA @StMartinsPress #LindsayHameroff #NeverPlannedOnYou #YouHadMeAtHEA #SMPInfluencers #StMartinsPress

categories: 8.5/10, Book Review, Contemporary Romance
#BookReview Never Planned on You by Lindsay Hameroff @YouHadMeAtHEA @StMartinsPress #LindsayHameroff #NeverPlannedOnYou #YouHadMeAtHEA #SMPInfluencers #StMartinsPress Title: Never Planned on You

Author: Lindsay Hameroff

Published by: St. Martin's Griffin on Feb. 18, 2025

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 304

Format: Paperback

Source: St. Martin's Press

Book Rating: 8.5/10

A glittering, laugh-out-loud second chance romance that reminds us true love is sometimes the one thing you never planned on.

Ali Rubin has a reputation for spontaneity. Like that time she made a drunken bet in London that led to matching tattoos with a stranger. Her joie de vivre is one of her best qualities; she lives every day to the fullest and follows her dreams wherever they take her. And now, they’re taking her from her career as a chef in New York City back home to Baltimore, where she’s interning as a wedding planner.

Despite the occasional fantasy about her British tattoo twin, Ali never expected to see Graham again. So no one is more surprised than she is when he turns up in Baltimore, ordering a latte at her favorite cafe. When they reconnect during an enchanting evening together, Ali can’t help but wonder if Graham might be someone special.

At the same time, she’s desperate to succeed in her new career and prove that she isn’t the family flake. When she gets a job planning a high profile wedding at a historic hotel, it seems like things are finally falling into place. That is, until Graham turns out to be the groom.

Graham’s family owns the once-grand, now struggling Black-Eyed Susan, and he’s returned to Baltimore to help his grandmother get it back on its feet. He’s certain that hosting a wedding at the hotel is just the publicity boost it needs. Ali’s boss agrees, and promises Ali a full-time gig if the affair goes off without a hitch. Unfortunately, Ali and Graham can’t seem to ignore their rekindled chemistry, especially when it’s revealed that Graham and his fiancée are planning a marriage of convenience. Still, staying away from each other is the best thing they can do, since giving in to their growing feelings might cost them everything.

Because when it comes to love, all bets are off.

Review:

Sassy, engaging, and fun!

Never Planned on You is a flirty, feel-good tale about the hardworking, impulsive Ali who, after deciding to embark on a one-night stand involving matching tattoos before heading home to Baltimore from London, finds her world turned upside down when the bridegroom of her latest job turns out to be none other than the one man she never thought she’d see again but whom she’s never actually forgotten.

The prose is witty and sharp. The characters are focused, amusing, and driven. And the plot is a lighthearted, funny blend of life, love, introspection, friendship, secrets, deception, awkward situations, sweet moments and taking chances.

Overall, Never Planned on You is a charming, touching, delightful tale by Hameroff that I thoroughly enjoyed and which, in my opinion, is a great choice for anyone who loves a good romcom with a whole lot of hope, humour, and heart.

 

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

         

 

 

Thank you to You Had Me at HEA – St. Martin’s Press for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Lindsay Hameroff

Lindsay Hameroff is a writer, humorist, and former English teacher raised in Baltimore, MD and based in Harrisburg, PA. Her writing has been featured in McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, The Belladonna, Weekly Humorist, and other outlets. She also co-edits Frazzled, a parenting humor site. Till There Was You is her first novel.

Photo Credit: Leslie Gilbert

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#BookReview The Ice Retreat by Ruth Kelly @ruthywriter @PGCBooks @panmacmillan #TheIceRetreat #RuthKelly #PGCBooks

categories: 8/10, Book Review, Mystery/Thriller
#BookReview The Ice Retreat by Ruth Kelly @ruthywriter @PGCBooks @panmacmillan #TheIceRetreat #RuthKelly #PGCBooks Title: The Ice Retreat

Author: Ruth Kelly

Published by: Pan Macmillan on Jan. 21, 2025

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 400

Format: Paperback

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 8/10

From bestselling author Ruth Kelly, The Ice Retreat is a spine-tingling thriller set in the world of controversial wellness treatments. Perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell and Sarah Pearse.

HEALER?

Meet Hollie Jenson, presenter of the smash-hit docu-series Bad Medicine, which exposes the perils of extreme therapies. Her next a new retreat run by wellness guru Ariel Rose, who claims to have discovered the secret to healing pain through her three-day ice rebirth treatment.

LIAR?

Acting on a mother’s plea to find her son, who vanished soon after his stay, Hollie ventures into the Swiss mountains where the retreat occupies a former observatory. There she will search for the boy, and hopes to expose Ariel as the charlatan she believes her to be.

KILLER?

As the isolation of the valley sets in, Hollie finds herself in an increasingly dangerous situation. There is much more to the retreat than meets the eye, and she must confront explosive secrets from her own past if she is to ever make it out alive . . .

Review:

Ominous, sinister, and intense!

The Ice Retreat is an eerie, suspenseful tale that takes us into the life of Hollie, a young investigative journalist who, after a desperate mother asks her for help to find her missing son, travels to Switzerland to uncover what’s really going on at a wellness retreat that seems too good to be true.

The prose is sharp and crisp. The characters are secretive, determined, and multilayered. And the plot, using a past/present, back-and-forth style, builds and unravels quickly into a foreboding tale of lies, secrets, abuse, deception, drama, manipulation, desperation, experimentation, and murder.

Overall, The Ice Retreat is another dark, taut, unnerving thriller by Kelly that did a wonderful job of keeping me mystified, surprised, and guessing from start to finish while at the same time reminding me that everything is not always what it seems.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

         

 

  

 

Thank you to Publishers Group Canada for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Ruth Kelly

Ruth Kelly is an award-winning journalist who has ghosted a string of Sunday Times top ten bestsellers - most recently The Prison Doctor, which sold over 250,000 copies, and The Governor, which went straight in at number one on the Amazon charts and number five in the Sunday Times bestseller list. The Villa is Ruth's debut thriller. She's drawn inspiration from her years working as a reporter for national newspapers as well as her experience writing for TV shows, most notably with Endemol, the creators of the original reality show Big Brother.

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#BookReview Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall @SimonSchusterCA #BrokenCountry #ClareLeslieHall #SimonSchusterCA

categories: 10/10, Book Review, Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller
#BookReview Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall @SimonSchusterCA #BrokenCountry #ClareLeslieHall #SimonSchusterCA Title: Broken Country

Author: Clare Leslie Hall

Published by: Simon & Schuster on Mar. 4, 2025

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 320

Format: Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 10/10

“The farmer is dead. He is dead, and all anyone wants to know is who killed him.”

Beth and her gentle, kind husband Frank are happily married, but their relationship relies on the past staying buried. But when Beth’s brother-in-law shoots a dog going after their sheep, Beth doesn’t realize that the gunshot will alter the course of their lives. For the dog belonged to none other than Gabriel Wolfe, the man Beth loved as a teenager—the man who broke her heart years ago. Gabriel has returned to the village with his young son Leo, a boy who reminds Beth very much of her own son, who died in a tragic accident.

As Beth is pulled back into Gabriel’s life, tensions around the village rise and dangerous secrets and jealousies from the past resurface, this time with deadly consequences. Beth is forced to make a choice between the woman she once was, and the woman she has become.

A sweeping love story with the pace and twists of a thriller, Broken Country is a novel of simmering passion, impossible choices, and explosive consequences that toggles between the past and present to explore the far-reaching legacy of first love.

Review:

Poignant, mysterious, and beautifully written!

Broken Country is a tragic, moving, emotionally-charged novel that transports you to North Dorset between 1955 and 1968 and immerses you into the ongoing, entangled relationships between the hardworking, reliable Johnson family and the privileged, affluent Wolfe family, complete with all the powerful emotions, long-buried secrets, and unimaginable tragedy that has tied them together for almost fifteen years.

The prose is lyrical and expressive. The characters, including all the supporting characters, are complex, conflicted, and scarred. And the plot is a compelling, sobering tale of life, loss, family, friendship, grief, guilt, denial, secrets, reflection, self-preservation, love, and redemption.

Overall, Broken Country will make you think, it will make you sad, and it will resonate with you long after the final page. It’s an impactful, enthralling, powerful tale by Hall that uses extraordinary character development to weave a combination of an impressive, intricate mystery and a heartbreaking, bittersweet love story, all steeped in an abundance of tragedy and pain.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

         

 

 

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Clare Leslie Hall

Clare Leslie Hall is a novelist and journalist who lives in the wilds of Dorset, England, with her family. She’s the author of Broken Country, Pictures of Him, and Days You Were Mine.

Photograph by Oli Green.

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#BookReview Every Precious and Fragile Thing by Barbara Davis @FireflyDist @AmazonPub #EveryPreciousAndFragileThing #BarbaraDavis #LakeUnion #FireflyDist

categories: 10/10, Book Review, General Fiction, Historical Fiction
#BookReview Every Precious and Fragile Thing by Barbara Davis @FireflyDist @AmazonPub #EveryPreciousAndFragileThing #BarbaraDavis #LakeUnion #FireflyDist Title: Every Precious and Fragile Thing

Author: Barbara Davis

Published by: Lake Union Publishing on Feb. 18, 2025

Genres: General Fiction, Historical Fiction

Pages: 431

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Firefly Distributed Lines

Book Rating: 10/10

A mother and daughter try desperately to reconcile just as a decades-old secret threatens to shatter their relationship forever in this powerful story from the bestselling author of The Echo of Old Books.

For social worker Mallory Ward, working with at-risk youth is a calling. But when one of her clients is tragically killed, she finds herself at a crossroads. Despite long-held resentments toward her distant mother, Mallory retreats to her childhood home on the Rhode Island coast to contemplate her future. Instead, she’s confronted by her past, not only in the renewed tensions with her mother but in the unexpected appearance of a familiar face―and the wrenching losses that drove her away a decade ago.

Helen Ward’s home is filled with precious keepsakes from her patients, a testament to decades spent caring for the terminally ill. Her work has always come first, though, leaving little time to connect with her daughter. Over the years, the rift between them has become a chasm, so when Mallory appears unannounced, Helen sees it as an opportunity to repair their broken relationship.

But hidden among Helen’s mementos are the keys to her past…and a terrible secret that threatens to destroy the fragile new trust between them forever.

Review:

Absorbing, optimistic, and tender!

Every Precious and Fragile Thing is a heartfelt, engaging tale that takes you into the lives of two main characters. Mallory, a compassionate social worker who, after one of her clients is brutally murdered, heads home to regroup, repair the strained relationship she has with her mother, and decide what she really wants to do with her life, and Helen, a death doula who after helping numerous people pass peacefully into the next life, decides to take a break to focus on what’s truly important and finally share all her secrets from the past with her daughter.

The prose is sensitive and reflective. The characters are scarred, insecure, and secretive. And the plot is a compelling tale of life, loss, family, grief, friendship, self-discovery, trust, kindness, support, forgiveness, troubled pasts, taking chances, companionship, second-chance love, and the intricacies of mother-daughter relationships.

Overall, Every Precious and Fragile Thing is a moving, uplifting, nostalgic tale by Davis, complete with strong, endearing characters, a touching storyline, and an insightful look into the power of remorse and the unbreakable ties that bind us to those we love.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

          

 

 

Thank you to Firefly Distributed Lines for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Barbara Davis

I’m a Jersey girl raised in the south, now living and writing in New England. Confused? Constantly. Happy? Deliriously! But then, living your dream will do that! After fifteen years of wearing heels and schlepping a briefcase as an executive in the jewelry industry, I traded in my pinstripes for a little peace of mind, and decided to follow my dream of becoming a women’s fiction author. And what a ride it’s been! Six books later, I’m still pinching myself, and I’m still as much in love with writing as I was the day I began this journey. Maybe it’s because I believe in miracles, in happy endings and new beginnings. Heaven knows I’ve had my share.

I’m blessed to be married to my best friend and soul mate, Tom, who I must say, sets the bar pretty high for my on-the-page heroes. We also have a lovely ginger cat named Simon, who is twenty years old, wretchedly spoiled, and doesn’t give a fig if I’m on deadline or not. When I’m not making up stories, you’re likely to find me reading, cooking, watching college football, (Go Gators!) or spreading a little sunshine over on Facebook, on The Sunshine Page.

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#BookReview Jane and Dan at the End of the World by Colleen Oakley @BerkleyRomance @PenguinRandomCA #JaneAndDanAtTheEndOfTheWorld #ColleenOakley #Berkley #BerkleyPartner #PenguinReads

categories: 9/10, Book Review, Contemporary Romance, Mystery/Thriller
#BookReview Jane and Dan at the End of the World by Colleen Oakley @BerkleyRomance @PenguinRandomCA #JaneAndDanAtTheEndOfTheWorld #ColleenOakley #Berkley #BerkleyPartner #PenguinReads Title: Jane and Dan at the End of the World

Author: Colleen Oakley

Published by: Berkley on Mar. 11, 2025

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 368

Format: Hardcover

Source: Berkley Publishing

Book Rating: 9/10

Date night goes off the rails in this hilariously insightful take on midlife and marriage when one unhappy couple find themselves at the heart of a crime in progress, from the USA Todaybestselling author of The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise.

Jane and Dan have been married for nineteen years, but Jane isn’t sure they’re going to make it to twenty. The mother of two feels unneeded by her teenagers, and her writing career has screeched to an unsuccessful halt. Her one published novel sold under five hundred copies. Worse? She’s pretty sure Dan is cheating on her. When the couple goes to the renowned upscale restaurant La Fin du Monde to celebrate their anniversary, Jane thinks it’s as good a place as any to tell Dan she wants a divorce.

But before they even get to the second course, an underground climate activist group bursts into the dining room. Jane is shocked—and not just because she’s in a hostage situation the likes of which she’s only seen in the movies. Nearly everything the disorganized and bumbling activists say and do is right out of the pages of her failed book. Even Dan (who Jane wasn’t sure even read her book) admits it’s eerily familiar.

Which means Dan and Jane are the only ones who know what’s going to happen next. And they’re the only ones who can stop it. This wasn’t what Jane was thinking of when she said “’til death do us part” all those years ago, but if they can survive this, maybe they can survive anything—even marriage.

Review:

Quirky, funny, and suspenseful!

Jane and Dan at the End of the World is a humorous, compelling read that transports you to California and into the lives of Jane Brooks, a struggling mystery writer, and her husband Dan, a somewhat successful podiatrist, whose lives get turned upside down when a terrorist group storms the swanky restaurant they won a reservation to, hold them hostage similarly to a way Jane previously wrote about in her one failed book, leaving their anniversary dinner in shambles and Jane’s request for a divorce on a temporary pause.

The prose is sharp and witty. The characters are relatable, stressed, and multilayered. And the plot unravels quickly into a riotous yet thrilling tale filled with marital drama, criminal intentions, secrets, tricky situations, spirited hijinks, danger, and hilarious mishaps.

Overall, Jane and Dan at the End of the World is a fresh, charming, laugh-out-loud funny mystery by Oakley that kept me amused and entertained from the very first page. It’s escapism at its very best, and I would, hands down, love to see it as a movie.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

         

 

 

Thank you to Berkley Romance for this free copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Colleen Oakley

Colleen Oakley’s novels BEFORE I GO and CLOSE ENOUGH TO TOUCH have been named best books by People Magazine, Us Weekly, Library Journal, and Real Simple, and both were long-listed for the Pat Conroy Southern Book Prize. Formerly the editor-in-chief of Women’s Health & Fitness and senior editor of Marie Claire, her articles and essays have been featured in The New York Times, Ladies’ Home Journal, Women’s Health, Redbook, Parade, Marie Claire and Martha Stewart Weddings. She lives in Atlanta with her husband, four kids and the world's biggest lapdog, Bailey. Her third novel YOU WERE THERE TOO will be published by Berkley/Penguin in January 2020.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.

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#BookReview Count My Lies by Sophie Stava @SimonSchusterCA #CountMyLies #SophieStava #SimonSchusterCA

categories: 8.5/10, Book Review, Mystery/Thriller
#BookReview Count My Lies by Sophie Stava @SimonSchusterCA #CountMyLies #SophieStava #SimonSchusterCA Title: Count My Lies

Author: Sophie Stava

Published by: Scout Press on Mar. 4, 2025

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 336

Format: Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

A read-in-one-night suspense thriller narrated by a compulsive liar whose little white lies allow her to enter into the life and comfort of a wealthy married couple who are harboring much darker secrets themselves. For the millions of us still chasing those gone girls, this is perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell, Lucy Foley, and Laura Dave.

Sloane Caraway is a liar.

Harmless lies, mostly, to make her self-proclaimed sad, little life a bit more interesting.

So when Sloane sees a young girl in tears at a park one afternoon, she can’t help herself—she tells the girl’s (very attractive) dad she’s a nurse and helps him pull a bee stinger from the girl’s foot.

With this lie, and chance encounter, Sloane becomes the nanny for the wealthy, and privileged Jay and Violet Lockhart. The perfect New York couple, with a brownstone, a daughter in private school, and summers on Block Island.

But maybe Sloane isn’t the only one lying, and all that’s picture-perfect harbors a much more dangerous truth. To say anything more is to spoil the most exciting, twisty, and bitingly smart suspense novel to come out in years.

The thing about lies is that they add up, form their own truth and a twisted prison of a world. And in Count My Lies, Sophie Stava spins a breakneck, unputdownable thriller about the secrets we keep, and the terrifying dangers that lurk just under the images we spend so much time trying to maintain.

Careful what you lie for.

Review:

Intricate, ominous, and riveting!

Count My Lies is a highly suspenseful, character-driven thriller that takes you into the life of Sloane Caraway, a young woman whose obsessive compulsion to lie, snoop, and emulate may finally have caught up with her when she ingratiates herself with the wealthy Lockhart’s, who seem to have a lot of devastating, destructive, damaging secrets of their own.

The writing is tight and intense. The characters are complex, secretive, and troubled. And the plot is a devious, sinister tale full of twists, turns, lies, deception, manipulation, suspicions, revelations, mayhem, obsession, violence, and familial drama.

Overall, Count My Lies is a clever, tortuous, unnerving tale by Stava that kept me guessing from the very first page and was deliciously surprising, relentless and absolutely bursting with misdirection.

 

This novel is available in paperback now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

         

 

 

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Sophie Stava

Sophie Stava received her BA in English literature from UC Santa Barbara. She currently resides in Southern California with her family.

Photograph by Alison Bernier.

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#BookReview What Lies Beyond the Veil by Harper L. Woods @torbooks #WhatLiesBeyondTheVeil #OfFlesh&BoneSeries #HarperLWoods #torbooks

categories: 8/10, Book Review, Fantasy
#BookReview What Lies Beyond the Veil by Harper L. Woods @torbooks #WhatLiesBeyondTheVeil #OfFlesh&BoneSeries #HarperLWoods #torbooks Title: What Lies Beyond the Veil

Author: Harper L. Woods

Series: Of Flesh & Bone #1

Published by: Bramble on Feb. 11, 2025

Genres: Fantasy

Pages: 400

Format: Paperback

Source: Tor Publishing

Book Rating: 8/10

Once, we’d worshipped them as Gods.

For nearly 400 years, the Veil has protected us from the Fae of Alfheimr. In their absence, our lives have shifted from decadence and sin to survival and virtue under the guidance of the New Gods. I’ve spent my entire life tending to the gardens next to the boundary between our worlds, drawn to the shimmering magic like a moth to the flame.

Then, we died on their swords.

All of that changes the day the Veil shatters, unleashing the fae upon our world once again. The magic of faerie marks those of us they mean to take, but the Mist Guard protecting Nothrek will kill us all before they let the fae have us. There’s no choice but to flee everything I’ve ever known, not if I want to live to see my twenty-first birthday as a free woman.

Now, they’ll claim what’s theirs.

But before they capture me, Caelum saves me from the Wild Hunt. Fae-marked and on the run, he is able to fight back in ways I only dream of. From tentative alliance to all-consuming passion, our bond strengthens as the fae close in and evil lurks ever nearer. With my life on the line, he is everything I shouldn’t dare to want and a distraction I can’t afford. I can’t seem to stay away, not even with something greater on the line.

My heart.

Review:

Complex, adventurous, and seductive!

What Lies Beyond the Veil is a suspenseful, action-packed tale that takes us into the life of Estrella Barlowe of Mistfell, who after the veil protecting the land from the Fae of Alfheimr shatters, and her skin becomes marked by the magic of Faerie, embarks on a treacherous journey with the help of a mysterious marked stranger, Callum, to flee to a haven of safety before she can be captured by her fated mate.

The prose is brisk and tight. The characters are multilayered, dependable, and fearless. And the plot is a riveting tale full of twists, turns, angst, loyalty, duty, heartbreak, danger, deception, family, friendship, sizzling tension, tormented pasts, and supernatural abilities.

Overall, What Lies Beyond the Veil is an imaginative, passionate, epic, fantastical first novel in the Of Flesh & Bones series by Woods that is bursting with soul-searching dilemmas, ancient prophecies, sizzling romance, dangerous quests, unforeseen twists, and complex, intriguing characters.

 

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

        

 

 

Thank you to Tor Publishing for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Harper L. Woods

Harper L. Woods is the USA Today bestselling fantasy romance alter ego for Adelaide Forrest. Raised in small-town Vermont, her passion for reading was born during long winters spent with her face buried between the pages of a book. She began to pass the time by writing short stories that quickly turned into full-length fiction. Since that time, she has published over 15 books and has plans for many more. When she isn't writing, Harper can be found spending time with her two young kids, curled up with her dog, dreaming about travel to distant lands, or designing book covers she'll never have enough time to use.

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#BookReview The King’s Messenger by Susanna Kearsley @SimonSchusterCA #TheKingsMessenger #SusannaKearsley #SimonSchusterCA

categories: 10/10, Book Review, Historical Fiction
#BookReview The King’s Messenger by Susanna Kearsley @SimonSchusterCA #TheKingsMessenger #SusannaKearsley #SimonSchusterCA Title: The King's Messenger

Author: Susanna Kearsley

Published by: Simon & Schuster Canada on Mar. 4, 2025

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 384

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 10/10

For fans of Diana Gabaldon and Philippa Gregory, courtly rivalry and intrigue…
 
1613:  King James – sixth of Scotland, first of England, son of Mary, Queen of Scots – has unified both countries under one crown. But the death of his eldest son, Henry, has plunged the nation into mourning, as the rumours rise the prince was poisoned.
 
Andrew Logan’s heard the rumours, but he’s paid them little heed. As one of the King’s Messengers he has enough secrets to guard, including his own. In these perilous times, when the merest suggestion of witchcraft can see someone tortured and hanged, men like Andrew must hide well the fact they were born with the Sight.
 
He’ll need all his gifts, though, when the king sends Andrew north to find and arrest Sir David Murray, once Prince Henry’s trusted courtier, and bring him a prisoner to London to stand trial before the dreaded Star Chamber.
 
A story of treachery, betrayal and love…

Review:

Rich, enthralling, and atmospheric!

The King’s Messenger is a fascinating, absorbing tale set during 1613 that takes you into the life of Andrew Logan, a King’s Messenger who, after the death of the crown prince, is sent by the King to Scotland, along with a scribe and the scribe’s daughter, Phoebe, to find the late prince’s trusted advisor, Sir David Moray, and return him to England to be tried for his murder.

The prose is eloquent and expressive. The characters are multilayered, sympathetic, and alluring. And the plot is an epic tale filled with duty, danger, hope, fear, sacrifices, struggles, heartbreak, family, friendship, politics, complex relationships, tormented pasts, and unconditional love.

Overall, The King’s Messenger is an enchanting, immersive, heart-tugging tale that transports you to another time and place and immerses you so thoroughly into the lives, feelings, and personalities of the characters you never want it to end. It is undoubtedly one of my favourite novels of the year that once again highlights Kearsley’s extraordinary imagination and talent as a remarkable researcher and masterful storyteller.

 

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

        

 

 

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Susanna Kearsley

New York Times, USA TODAY, and Globe and Mail bestselling author Susanna Kearsley is a former museum curator who loves restoring the lost voices of real people to the page, often in twin-stranded stories that interweave present and past. Her award-winning novels are published in translation in more than twenty-five countries. She lives near Toronto.

Photo by Wendy McAlpine.

 

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#BookReview The Garden by Nick Newman @PenguinRandomCA #TheGarden #NickNewman #PenguinReads

categories: 8/10, Book Review, Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction
#BookReview The Garden by Nick Newman @PenguinRandomCA #TheGarden #NickNewman #PenguinReads Title: The Garden

Author: Nick Newman

Published by: G.P. Putnam's Sons on Feb. 18, 2025

Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction

Pages: 313

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Penguin Random House Canada

Book Rating: 8/10

A beautiful eerie, hypnotic novel about two elderly sisters living alone at the edge of the world, and how their lives unravel when their sanctum is breached, for fans of Piranesi and The Testaments.

In a place and time unknown, two elderly sisters live in a walled garden, secluded from the outside world. Evelyn and Lily have only ever known each other. What was before the garden, they have forgotten; what lies beyond it, they do not know. Each day is spent in languid service to their tending the bees, planting the crops, and dutifully following the instructions of the almanac written by their mother.

So when a nameless boy is found hiding in the boarded house at the center of their isolated grounds, their once solitary lives are irrevocably disrupted. Who is he? Where did he come from? And most importantly, what does he want?

As suspicions gather and allegiances falter Evelyn and Lily are forced to confront the dark truths about themselves, the garden, and the world as they’ve known it.

Review:

Unique, chilling, and atmospheric!

The Garden is a sharp, engaging tale that takes you into the life of two elderly sisters, Evelyn and Lily, who have been content to spend the majority of their lives contained to the boundaries of their property and following the rules their mother left for them, until one day a strange young man breaks into their home, and they suddenly start to question everything they’ve ever known or believed about the world at large, the past, and themselves.

The writing is tight and intense. The characters are obedient, lonely, and intelligent. And the compelling plot sweeps you away into an intricately woven tale that touches on life, solace, sacrifice, dread, beliefs, fears, and survival.

Overall, The Garden is, ultimately, a speculative, haunting, well-written story by Newman that did a wonderful job of incorporating a creative storyline, postapocalyptic fiction, and an atmospheric setting into a compelling tale full of isolation, reflection, compliance, loneliness, and sisterhood.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

        

 

 

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Nick Newman

Nick Newman is the adult pen-name of Nicholas Bowling, author of several children’s novels including Witchborn and In the Shadow of Heroes, which was shortlisted for the Costa Children's Book Award. He has previously worked as a teacher, musician, and a stand-up comedian and is currently working as a bookseller at Daunt Books in London.

Photo by Robin Christian

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#BookReview Chain Reaction by James Byrne @JByrnemystery @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #JamesByrne #ChainReaction #DezLimerick #MinotaurInfluencers

categories: 9/10, Book Review, Mystery/Thriller
#BookReview Chain Reaction by James Byrne @JByrnemystery @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #JamesByrne #ChainReaction #DezLimerick #MinotaurInfluencers Title: Chain Reaction

Author: James Byrne

Series: Dez Limerick #3

Published by: Minotaur Books on Jan. 28, 2025

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 400

Format: Hardcover

Source: Minotaur Books

Book Rating: 9/10

Dez Limerick, a man of many skills and a murky past, faces the impossible—a skilled, deadly opponent who anticipates his every move.

Desmond Aloysius Limerick (“Dez” to his friends and close personal enemies) is a man with a shadowy past, certain useful hard-won skills, and, if one digs deep enough, a reputation as a good man to have at your back. He was trained as a “gatekeeper”—he can open any door, keep it open as long as necessary, and control who does—and does not—go through. Now retired from his previous life, Dez still tries to keep his skills up to date.

Knocking around the country, picking up the occasional gig as a guitarist, Dez is contacted by a friend in urgent need of his musical skills. At his behest, Dez flies to the East Coast to a gig at the brand new massive complex, the Liberty Center. But he’s barely landed before he finds himself in the midst of a terrorist attack, a group has taken over the whole center and thousands of hostage lives are in danger. With the semi-willing help of a talented thief, Dez takes on the impossible task of outfighting and outwitting a literal army. But that’s just the beginning, as Dez learns he was actually lured there under false pretenses, by someone who knows more about Dez, his past and his skills than any living person should.

Review:

Thrilling, suspenseful, and twisty!

Chain Reaction is a tight, menacing tale that takes you back into the life of ex-mercenary Desmond Aloysius Limerick as he finds himself once again caught up in a world of terror when his invitation to perform a gig at the Liberty Center goes immediately sideways.

The writing is compelling and edgy. The characters are sly, secretive, and resourceful. And the plot is an intense, sinister tale filled with twists, turns, mayhem, coercion, politics, power, obsession, lies, secrets, drama, revenge, and murder.

Overall, Chain Reaction is an action-packed, intricate, riveting tale by Byrne, and as a huge fan of this unlikely hero who oozes sex appeal, danger, and charisma, all I can say is I WANT MORE!

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

         

 

 

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press – Minotaur Press for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About James Byrne

JAMES BYRNE is the pseudonym for an author who has worked for more than twenty years as a journalist and in politics. A native of the Pacific Northwest, he lives in Portland, Oregon.

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