Category: General Blog Posts

#BookReview One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle @RebeccaASerle @AtriaBooks @SimonSchusterCA #OneItalianSummer #RebeccaSerle

Published on by Zoe2 Comments
#BookReview One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle @RebeccaASerle @AtriaBooks @SimonSchusterCA #OneItalianSummer #RebeccaSerle Title: One Italian Summer

Author: Rebecca Serle

Published by: Atria Books on Mar. 1, 2022

Genres: Women's Fiction

Pages: 272

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

When Katy’s mother dies, she is left reeling. Carol wasn’t just Katy’s mom, but her best friend and first phone call. She had all the answers and now, when Katy needs her the most, she is gone. To make matters worse, their planned mother-daughter trip of a lifetime looms: two weeks in Positano, the magical town Carol spent the summer right before she met Katy’s father. Katy has been waiting years for Carol to take her, and now she is faced with embarking on the adventure alone.

But as soon as she steps foot on the Amalfi Coast, Katy begins to feel her mother’s spirit. Buoyed by the stunning waters, beautiful cliffsides, delightful residents, and, of course, delectable food, Katy feels herself coming back to life.

And then Carol appears—in the flesh, healthy, sun-tanned, and thirty years old. Katy doesn’t understand what is happening, or how—all she can focus on is that she has somehow, impossibly, gotten her mother back. Over the course of one Italian summer, Katy gets to know Carol, not as her mother, but as the young woman before her. She is not exactly who Katy imagined she might be, however, and soon Katy must reconcile the mother who knew everything with the young woman who does not yet have a clue.

Review:

Charming, touching, and hopeful!

One Italian Summer is a tender, uplifting tale that takes you into the life of grief-stricken Katy Silver as she embarks on a journey to Positano, Italy, the place her mother loved, and where she will have a chance to revisit the past, face some truths she’d rather not, discover her true self, and start to come to grips with moving on without the one person who has always been her everything.

The prose is heartfelt and smooth. The characters are multilayered, conflicted, and genuine. And the plot is an absorbing tale about life, loss, love, grief, family, friendship, marriage, relationship dynamics, introspection, heartbreak, and the special bonds that exist between a mother and daughter, all interwoven with a thread of magical realism.

Overall, One Italian Summer is one of those books that tugs at the heartstrings, makes you dream of sandy beaches, lazy days, and crystal blue water, and reminds you that love is powerful and everlasting, and that life should always be lived to the fullest.

 

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 Rebecca Serle

Rebecca Serle is the New York Times bestselling author of In Five Years, The Dinner List, and the young adult novels The Edge of Falling and When You Were Mine. Serle also developed the hit TV adaptation Famous in Love, based on her YA series of the same name. She is a graduate of USC and The New School and lives in Los Angeles.

Photo by Ann Molen.

Website | Facebook | Instagram

#BookReview The Texas Job by Reavis Z. Wortham @ReavisZWortham @PPPress #TheTexasJob #ReavisZWortham #TexasRedRiverMysteries #inkedinpoison

Published on by ZoeLeave a comment
#BookReview The Texas Job by Reavis Z. Wortham @ReavisZWortham @PPPress #TheTexasJob #ReavisZWortham #TexasRedRiverMysteries #inkedinpoison Title: The Texas Job

Author: Reavis Z. Wortham

Series: Texas Red River Mysteries #9

Published by: Poisoned Pen Press on Feb. 15, 2022

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 272

Format: Paperback

Source: Poisoned Pen Press

Book Rating: 9/10

Some men are destined for danger

Texas Ranger Tom Bell is simply tracking a fugitive killer in 1931 when he rides into Kilgore, a hastily erected shanty town crawling with rough and desperate men―oil drillers who’ve come by the thousands in search of work. The sheriff of the boomtown is overwhelmed and offers no help, nor are any of the roughnecks inclined to assist the young Ranger in his search for the wanted man.

In fact, it soon becomes apparent that the lawman’s presence has irritated the wrong people, and when two failed attempts are made on his life, Bell knows he’s getting closer to finding out who is responsible for cheating and murdering local landowners to access the rich oil fields flowing beneath their farms. When they ambush him for a third time, they make the fatal mistake of killing someone close to him and leaving the Ranger alive.

Armed with his trademark 1911 Colt .45 and the Browning automatic he liberated from a gangster’s corpse, Tom Bell cuts a swath of devastation through the heart of East Texas in search of the consortium behind the lethal land-grab scheme.

Review:

Astute, sinister, and immersive!

The Texas Job is an absorbing, highly authentic western that takes you into the life of Texas Ranger Tom Bell during 1931, as he heads to Pine Top, Texas to hunt a fugitive wanted for murder in a town bursting with oil, booming with riffraff, and home to a group of men who have happily made their bed with the devil and will do whatever it takes, even murder, to acquire prestige, power, and riches.

The prose is vivid and descriptive. The characters are rugged, intimidating, and resolute. And the plot, including all the subplots, seamlessly intertwine and unravel into a gripping tale full of deception, manipulation, community, greed, corruption, profiteering, mayhem, violence, and murder.

I’m not usually a huge western mystery type of gal, and yet every time I read a Wortham novel, I’m blown away by how much I love the characters and the atmosphere, and The Texas Job is no exception. In fact, it’s probably one of my favourites. It’s suspenseful, gritty, and downright thrilling, and I can’t do anything other than highly recommend it.

 

This novel is available now.

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

       

 

 

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Reavis Z. Wortham

Spur Award winner Reavis Z. Wortham retired in 2011 and now works harder than before as the author of the critically acclaimed Red River historical mystery series. Kirkus Reviews listed his first novel, The Rock Hole, as one of their Top 12 Mysteries of 2011. True West Magazine included Dark Places as one of 2015’s Top 12 Modern Westerns. The Providence Journal writes, “This year’s Unraveled is a hidden gem of a book that reads like Craig Johnson’s Longmire on steroids.” Wortham’s new high octane contemporary western series from Kensington Publishing featuring Texas Ranger Sonny Hawke kicked off in 2017 with the publication of Hawke’s Prey. The fourth Sonny Hawke thriller, Hawke’s Fury, was published in June 2020. In 2019, the Western Writers Association presented Hawke’s War with the Spur Award in the WWA Best Mass Market Paperback category. The next Red River Mystery, Laying Bones, will be published in January 2021.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Website.

Website | Instagram | YouTube

#BookReview Miss Dior by Justine Picardie @JPicardie @FaberBooks @PGCBooks #MissDior #JustinePicardie

Published on by ZoeLeave a comment
#BookReview Miss Dior by Justine Picardie @JPicardie @FaberBooks @PGCBooks #MissDior #JustinePicardie Title: Miss Dior

Author: Justine Picardie

Published by: Faber & Faber on Oct. 18, 2021

Genres: Nonfiction

Pages: 448

Format: Hardcover

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 8/10

Miss Dior is a story of freedom and fascism, beauty, and betrayal, roses and repression, and how the polished surface of fashion conceals hidden depths.

It paints a portrait of the enigmatic woman behind the designer Christian Dior: his beloved younger sister Catherine, who inspired his most famous perfume and shaped his vision of femininity. Justine Picardie”s journey takes her to Occupied Paris, where Christian honed his couture skills while Catherine dedicated herself to the French Resistance, until she was captured by the Gestapo and deported to the German concentration camp of Ravensbrück.

With unparalleled access to the Dior family homes and archives, Picardie”s research into Catherine”s courageous life shines a new light on Christian Dior”s legendary work, and reveals how his enchanting ”New Look” emerged out of the shadows of his sister”s suffering.

Tracing the wartime paths of the Dior siblings leads Picardie deep into other hidden histories, and different forms of resistance and sisterhood. She explores what it means to believe in beauty and hope, despite our knowledge of darkness and despair, and discovers the timeless solace of the natural world in the aftermath of devastation and destruction. The result is an exquisite and unforgettably moving book.

Review:

Captivating, descriptive, and well researched!

Miss Dior is the sincere, informative biography of the remarkable Caroline Dior, the youngest sister of renowned fashion designer Christian Dior who, after falling in love with a married resistance leader in 1941, spent the next three years reporting to British Intelligence on German operations until July 1944 when she was arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Ravensbrück and other satellite concentration camps before returning to Paris, after surviving a death march in April 1945, where for the remainder of her life she rarely spoke of the horrors she had endured but surrounded herself with her brother’s love and the flowers she adored.

The writing is evocative and expressive. The characters are humble, heroic, and unique. And the novel is an engaging look into how two siblings in a time of upheaval and uncertainty, one in the spotlight and the other in the shadows, made a resounding impact on French history and the world of fashion.

Overall, Miss Dior is a candid, intriguing tale by Picardie with an abundance of beautiful photos and illustrations, and even though I would have liked to learn more specifically about the life of the woman who inspired the perfume, I still found it an insightful, fascinating tale of not only second-hand accounts of the times, events, and situations she would have faced, but the ultimate evolution and rise of the House of Dior and the incredible array of infamous people who over the years have been lucky enough to don their couture.

 

This book is available now.

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

                

 

 

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

 

About Justine Picardie

Justine Picardie is the author of six books, including her critically acclaimed memoir, If the Spirit Moves You: Life and Love After Death, and the international bestseller, Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life. She is a contributing editor to Harper''s Bazaar, having previously been its editor-in-chief. She was formerly an investigative journalist for the Sunday Times, a columnist for the Telegraph, editor of the Observer Magazine and features director of Vogue.

Photo courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.

Goodreads | Instagram

#BookReview Up to No Gouda by Linda Reilly @LindaSReilly7 @PPPress #UpToNoGouda #LindaReilly #GrilledCheeseMysteries #inkedinpoison

Published on by ZoeLeave a comment
#BookReview Up to No Gouda by Linda Reilly @LindaSReilly7 @PPPress #UpToNoGouda #LindaReilly #GrilledCheeseMysteries #inkedinpoison Title: Up to No Gouda

Author: Linda Reilly

Series: Grilled Cheese Mysteries #1

Published by: Poisoned Pen Press on Jan. 25, 2022

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 312

Format: Paperback

Source: Poisoned Pen Press

Book Rating: 8/10

The first in a delicious new culinary cozy series featuring a grilled cheese eatery owner who must solve murders in her small town before she is put under lock and brie

Back in Balsam Dell to heal after the death of her husband, Carly Hale is finally pursuing her lifelong dream—opening Carly’s Grilled Cheese Eatery. After only five months, business is booming as Vermont vacationers and townspeople alike flock to lunch on her Party Havartis and other grilled cheese concoctions. All but Lyle Bagley, Carly’s one-time high school boyfriend and now town bully who just bought the building that houses her eatery and wants Carly out. After a muenster of a fight, Carly’s forced to put her nose to the rind and find a solution to keep her business afloat.

That is…until Lyle is discovered dead behind the dumpster of Carly’s shop, and one of her employees becomes the prime suspect. In order to save her eatery and prove her friend’s innocence, Carly must sleuth out the killer before she’s the one who gets grilled.

With a delightful cast of characters, an inventive amateur sleuth, and a whole host of cheesy hijinks, Up to No Gouda is the perfect cozy murder mystery to melt into.

Review:

Whimsical, engaging, and delightfully satisfying!

Up to No Gouda is a well-paced, amusing murder mystery that takes you into the life of Carly Hale, a young woman who, after losing her husband and heading back to Balsam Dell to fulfil her dream of opening a speciality grilled cheese restaurant, finds her life turned upside down when the owner of the building winds up murdered right outside the back door, and one of her employees quickly becomes the prime suspect for committing the crime.

The writing is playful and light. The characters are unique, clever, and supportive. And the plot develops nicely and has just the right mix of misdirection, deduction, clues, suspects, mishaps, drama, amateur sleuthing, and murder.

Up to No Gouda is the first book in the Grilled Cheese Mysteries series, and if you’re a fan of cosy mysteries this novel won’t disappoint. It’s a fun, quirky, entertaining read by Reilly, and I can’t wait to read what she cooks up next in No Parm No Foul, releasing later this year.

 

This novel is available now.

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

 

       

 

 

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Linda Reilly

Armed with a degree in Criminal Justice, Linda Reilly once contemplated a career in law enforcement. But life took a twist, and instead she found her niche in real estate closings and title examinations, where the dusty tomes in the Registry of Deeds enticed her into solving mysteries of a different sort. A dyed-in-the-wool New Englander, Linda lives in southern New Hampshire with her husband and cats. A member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and Cat Writers' Association, she loves solving mysteries of the cozy type. When she's not pounding away at her keyboard, she can usually be found prowling the shelves of a local bookstore or library.

Photo courtesy of Author's Website.

Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Instagram | Pinterest

#BookReview Diablo Mesa by Preston & Child @GrandCentralPub #DiabloMesa #PrestonChild #NoraKelly #GrandCentralPub

Published on by ZoeLeave a comment
#BookReview Diablo Mesa by Preston & Child @GrandCentralPub #DiabloMesa #PrestonChild #NoraKelly #GrandCentralPub Title: Diablo Mesa

Series: Nora Kelly #3

Published by: Grand Central Publishing on Feb. 15, 2022

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 400

Format: Hardcover

Source: Grand Central Publishing

Book Rating: 8.5/10

#1 New York Times bestselling authors Preston & Child continue with the wildly popular series featuring archaeologist Nora Kelly and FBI Agent Corrie Swanson. 

Lucas Tappan, a wealthy and eccentric billionaire and founder of Icarus Space Systems, approaches the Santa Fe Archaeological Institute with an outlandish proposal—to finance a careful, scientific excavation of the Roswell Incident site, where a UFO is alleged to have crashed in 1947. A skeptical Nora Kelly, to her great annoyance, is tasked with the job. 

Nora’s excavation immediately uncovers two murder victims buried at the site, faces and hands obliterated with acid to erase their identities. Special Agent Corrie Swanson is assigned to the case. As Nora’s excavation proceeds, uncovering things both bizarre and seemingly inexplicable, Corrie’s homicide investigation throws open a Pandora’s box of espionage and violence, uncovering bloody traces of a powerful force that will stop at nothing to protect its secrets—and that threatens to engulf them all in an unimaginable fate.

Review:

Menacing, tortuous, and action-packed!

In this third instalment in the Nora Kelly series, Diablo Mesa, Preston & Child have written an adrenaline-pumping thrill ride that sees archaeologist Nora Kelly and FBI Agent Cora Swanson teaming up once again when after reluctantly being convinced to work for billionaire Lucas Tappan on a new dig at the 1947 crash site of a potentially otherworldly aircraft in the New Mexico desert, Nora uncovers two murdered bodies and something even more surprising that the government has not only been hiding for decades but is still willing to do whatever it takes, even kill, to continue to keep a secret.

The writing is taut and tight. The characters are hesitant, intelligent, and persistent. And the plot is a menacing tale full of twists, turns, violence, deception, corruption, mayhem, danger, deduction, power, manipulation, murder, and a sliver of the supernatural.

Overall, Diablo Mesa is another suspenseful, fast-paced, exciting mystery by Preston & Child that, with its well-drawn characterization, creative storyline, and thrilling conclusion, is sure to be a big hit with longtime fans of this dynamic writing duo.

 

This novel is available now.

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

           

 

 

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Preston & Child

Douglas Preston has published thirty-six books of both nonfiction and fiction, of which twenty-nine have been New York Times bestsellers. He is the co-author, with Lincoln Child, of the Pendergast series of thrillers. He writes about archaeology and anthropology for the New Yorker Magazine, and he worked as an editor at the American Museum of Natural History in New York and taught nonfiction writing at Princeton University. He currently serves as President of the Authors Guild, the nation’s oldest and largest association of authors and journalists.

Lincoln Child is the New York Times bestselling author of The Forgotten Room, The Third Gate, Terminal Freeze, Deep Storm, Death Match, and Utopia, as well as coauthor, with Douglas Preston, of numerous New York Times bestsellers, most recently Crimson Shore. He lives with his wife and daughter in Morristown, New Jersey.

Photo courtesy of Authors' Website.

Website | Facebook

#BookReview The Next Ship Home by Heather Webb @msheatherwebb @Sourcebooks @sbkslandmark #TheNextShipHome #HeatherWebb #bookmarkedbylandmark

Published on by Zoe2 Comments
#BookReview The Next Ship Home by Heather Webb @msheatherwebb @Sourcebooks @sbkslandmark #TheNextShipHome #HeatherWebb #bookmarkedbylandmark Title: The Next Ship Home

Author: Heather Webb

Published by: Sourcebooks Landmark on Feb. 8, 2022

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 432

Format: Paperback

Source: Sourcebooks Landmark

Book Rating: 8.5/10

Ellis Island, 1902: Two women band together to hold America to its promise: “Give me your tired, your poor…”

Ellis Island, 1902. Francesca arrives on the shores of America, her sights set on a better life than the one she left in Italy. That same day, aspiring linguist Alma reports to her first day of work at the immigrant processing center. Ellis, though, is not the refuge it first appears thanks to President Roosevelt’s attempts to deter crime. Francesca and Alma will have to rely on each other to escape its corruption and claim the American dreams they were promised.

A thoughtful historical inspired by true events, this novel probes America’s history of prejudice and exclusion—when entry at Ellis Island promised a better life but often delivered something drastically different, immigrants needed strength, resilience, and friendship to fight for their futures.

Review:

Fascinating, compelling, and memorable!

The Next Ship Home is an immersive tale that sweeps you away to New York City during 1902 and into the life of two women, Francesca Ricci, a young Italian girl who dreams of a better life in America only to suffer persecution and unimaginable loss in the shadows of the statue of liberty, and Alma Brauer, a young American woman with a passion for languages and a new job on Elis Island that, she quickly learns is not a place for immigrants to feel welcome and supported, but rather a building where corruption is rampant and abuse is prolific.

The prose is vivid and rich. The characters are flawed, driven, and engaging. And the plot is a poignant, tender tale of life, loss, love, hope, prejudice, politics, family, sacrifices, tragedy, abusive power, successes, and female friendship.

Overall, The Next Ship Home is an absorbing, moving, beautifully written tale by Webb inspired by real-life events that, at its heart, highlights that sometimes a little kindness, a bit of luck, and a lot of hard work and determination can make a world of difference, and reminds us that even though we’ve come so far when it comes to exclusion and racism, we still have a ways to go.

 

This novel is available now.

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

            

 

 

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Heather Webb

Heather Webb is the USA Today bestselling and award-winning author of seven historical novels. In 2015, Rodin’s Lover was a Goodread’s Top Pick, and in 2018, Last Christmas in Paris won the Women’s Fiction Writers Association STAR Award. Meet Me in Monaco, was selected as a finalist for the 2020 Goldsboro RNA award in the UK, as well as the 2019 Digital Book World’s Fiction prize. To date, Heather’s books have been translated to sixteen languages. She lives in New England with her family, a mischievous kitten, and one feisty rabbit.

Photo courtesy of Author's Website.

Website | Facebook | Instagram

#BookReview The Midnight Ride by Ben Mezrich @benmezrich @GrandCentralPub @HBGCanada #TheMidnightRide #BenMezrich

Published on by ZoeLeave a comment
#BookReview The Midnight Ride by Ben Mezrich @benmezrich @GrandCentralPub @HBGCanada #TheMidnightRide #BenMezrich Title: The Midnight Ride

Author: Ben Mezrich

Published by: Grand Central Publishing on Feb. 22, 2022

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 304

Format: Hardcover

Source: Grand Central Publishing

Book Rating: 8.5/10

From the celebrated, New York Times bestselling author comes a commercial thriller of an MIT grad student who unwittingly uncovers the hidden connection between the Gardner Museum heist and the most fascinating secret in American history.

THE CARD SHARK: Hailey Gordon is looking to make some fast cash to help pay her tuition when she’s caught counting cards at the Encore casino in Boston. She grabs her winnings and makes her escape. With guards closing in, she dives into an unlocked room to hide . . . only to find a dead body.

THE EX-CON: Recently released from prison, Nick Patterson hasn’t felt hope in a long time, but the job he “inherited” in prison promises to change that. He enters hotel room 633 to find that the person he was supposed to meet has been murdered. Next to the corpse stands a terrified young woman—Hailey Gordon.

THE PROFESSOR: American history professor Adrian Jensen learns of the death of his professional nemesis, Charles Walker, the night after he received Walker’s latest research. Skeptical at first, Adrian nearly deletes the file. But when one small, new detail catches his eye, he makes it his mission to uncover what could be one of the biggest secrets of the Revolutionary War.

All three strangers find themselves on the cusp of an incredible discovery—one that someone is willing to kill to keep buried.

Review:

Sinister, tense, and highly entertaining!

The Midnight Ride is a propulsive, ominous tale that takes us on a journey into the lives of three strangers, Hailey Gordon, an MIT grad student with an exceptional mind for numbers and a special talent for counting cards, Nick Patterson, a recently paroled con man with a new job already planned that he’s sure will go off without a hitch, and Adrian Jensen, a Tufts professor of American history who specializes in all things Paul Revere, as their paths accidentally collide in a race to uncover a secret of unimaginable importance that seems to have been hidden since the Revolutionary War.

The writing is brisk and sharp. The characters are intelligent, determined, and impulsive. And the plot is an action-packed thrill ride full of twists, turns, surprises, adventure, manipulation, danger, historical events, code-breaking, violence, and murder.

Overall, The Midnight Ride is an intense, suspenseful, fast-paced read by Mezrich that I thoroughly enjoyed and which reminded me a little of the National Treasure movies that I absolutely adore.

 

This book is available now.

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

            

 

 

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Ben Mezrich

Ben Mezrich is the New York Times bestselling author of The Accidental Billionaires (adapted by Aaron Sorkin into the David Fincher film The Social Network) and Bringing Down the House (adapted into the #1 box office hit film 21), as well as many other bestselling books. His books have sold over six million copies worldwide.

Photo courtesy of grandcentralpublishing.com

Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Instagram

#BookReview Electric Idol by Katee Robert @katee_robert @SourcebooksCasa #KateeRobert #ElectricIdol #DarkOlympus #SourcebooksCasa

Published on by ZoeLeave a comment
#BookReview Electric Idol by Katee Robert @katee_robert @SourcebooksCasa #KateeRobert #ElectricIdol #DarkOlympus #SourcebooksCasa Title: Electric Idol

Author: Katee Robert

Series: Dark Olympus #2

Published by: Sourcebooks Casablanca on Jan. 18, 2022

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Fantasy

Pages: 375

Format: Paperback

Source: Sourcebooks Casablanca

Book Rating: 8.5/10

He was the most beautiful man alive.
And if I wasn’t careful, he was going to be my death.

*A scorchingly hot modern retelling of Psyche and Eros that’s as sinful as it is sweet.*

In the ultra-modern city of Olympus, there’s always a price to pay. Psyche knew she’d have to face Aphrodite’s ire eventually, but she never expected her literal heart to be at stake…or for Aphrodite’s gorgeous son to be the one ordered to strike the killing blow.

Eros has no problem shedding blood. But when it comes time to take out his latest target, he can’t do it. Confused by his reaction to Psyche, he does the only thing he can think of to keep her safe: he marries her. Psyche vows to make Eros’s life a living hell until they find a way out of this mess. But as lines blur and loyalties shift, she realizes he might take her heart after all…and she’s not sure she can survive the loss.

Review:

Witty, dark, and wickedly seductive!

Electric Idol is a steamy, provocative retelling that takes you on a journey into the life of Psyche Dimitriou, a candidate to become the new Hera who, after causing a scandal and falling under the wrath of Aphrodite, finds herself needing the protection of a fake marriage to the one man, Aphrodite’s fixer and son, Eros who has literally been sent to take her heart.

The writing is fluid and enticing. The characters are consumed, sassy, and endearing. And the plot is a delightfully salacious tale of desire, temptation, mystique, attraction, chemistry, danger, and sizzling romance.

Overall, Electric Idol is an alluring, fun, spicy tale that I absolutely adored. It is the second title in the Dark Olympus series by Robert that I am now totally hooked on and is, in my opinion, a series that just keeps getting better and better.

 

This novel is available now.

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

         

 

Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Katee Robert

Katee Robert is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romance and romantic suspense. Entertainment Weekly calls her writing “unspeakably hot.” Her books have sold over a million copies. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, children, a cat who thinks he’s a dog, and two Great Danes who think they’re lap dogs.

Photo courtesy of Author's Website.

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | YouTube

#BookReview Free Love by Tessa Hadley @randomhouseca #FreeLove #TessaHadley #RandomHouseCanada

Published on by ZoeLeave a comment
#BookReview Free Love by Tessa Hadley @randomhouseca #FreeLove #TessaHadley #RandomHouseCanada Title: Free Love

Author: Tessa Hadley

Published by: Random House Canada on Feb. 1, 2022

Genres: Historical Fiction, Women's Fiction

Pages: 328

Format: Paperback

Source: Random House Canada

Book Rating: 8/10

A compulsive new novel about one woman’s sexual and intellectual awakening in 1960s London.

1967. While London comes alive with the new youth revolution, the suburban Fischer family seems to belong to an older world of conventional stability: pretty, dutiful homemaker Phyllis is married to Roger, a devoted father with a career in the Foreign Office. Their children are Colette, a bookish teenager, and Hugh, the golden boy.

But when the twenty-something son of an old friend pays the Fischers a visit one hot summer evening, and kisses Phyllis in the dark garden after dinner, something in her catches fire. Newly awake to the world, Phyllis makes a choice that defies all expectations of her as a wife and a mother. Nothing in these ordinary lives is so ordinary after all, it turns out, as the family’s upheaval mirrors the dramatic transformation of the society around them.

With scalpel-sharp insight, Tessa Hadley explores her characters’ inner worlds, laying bare their fears and longings. Daring and sensual, Free Love is an enthralling, irresistible exploration of romantic love, sexual freedom and living out the truest and most meaningful version of our lives.

Review:

Sophisticated, astute, and passionate!

Free Love is an intimate, sentimental tale that sweeps you away to London in the late 1960s and into the life of Phyllis Fischer, a middle-aged married mother of two who, after feeling mostly content as a housewife for years, suddenly has a reawakening when she embarks on a love affair with Nicholas, the twenty-something-year-old son of family friends.

The prose is lyrical and descriptive. The characters are authentic, honest, and multi-layered. And the plot sweeps you away into a compelling, greek tragedy-like saga about motherhood, independence, responsibility, age disparity, adultery, seduction, desire, secrets, freedom, independence, compromise, and love.

Overall, Free Love is an atmospheric, pensive, provocative tale by Hadley that does a wonderful job of highlighting all the challenges and changes women experienced both personally and professionally during that time, and although I don’t think it will be everybody’s cup of tea, it is abundantly clear from the outset that Hadley is an exquisite literary writer with an uncanny ability to lay bare the lengths and sacrifices humanity will go to all for the sake of love.

 

This novel is available now.

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

           

 

 

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

 

About Tessa Hadley

TESSA HADLEY is the author of seven highly praised novels, Accidents in the Home, which was longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award, Everything Will Be All Right, The Master Bedroom, The London Train, Clever Girl, The Past and Late in the Day, and three collections of stories, Sunstroke, Married Love and Bad Dreams. The Past won the Hawthornden Prize for 2016, and Bad Dreams won the 2018 Edge Hill Short Story Prize. She lives in London and is Professor of Creative Writing at Bath Spa University. Her stories appear regularly in the New Yorker and other magazines.

Photo by Mark Vessey.

Goodreads

#BookReview The Deepest of Secrets (Rockton #7) by Kelley Armstrong @KelleyArmstrong @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #TheDeepestofSecrets #KelleyArmstrong #CaseyDuncan #Rockton #RocktonNovels #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers

Published on by ZoeLeave a comment
#BookReview The Deepest of Secrets (Rockton #7) by Kelley Armstrong @KelleyArmstrong @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #TheDeepestofSecrets #KelleyArmstrong #CaseyDuncan #Rockton #RocktonNovels #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers Title: The Deepest of Secrets

Author: Kelley Armstrong

Series: Rockton #7

Published by: Minotaur Books on Feb. 15, 2022

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 352

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Minotaur Books

Book Rating: 8.5/10

#1 New York Times bestseller Kelley Armstrong returns to the captivating town of Rockton in The Deepest of Secrets, the next installment in one of the most imaginative crime series on shelves today.

It’s not always easy to live in the hidden town of Rockton, something Detective Casey Duncan knows firsthand. Tucked away in the Yukon wilderness, the community survives—and thrives—because the residents’ many secrets stay just that—secret.

But what happens when these secrets start to come out? Overnight, no one is safe. It’s not a question of if your secret will come out—but when.

Casey and her boyfriend, Sheriff Eric Dalton, need to find the culprit while protecting those who have been thrust into the spotlight. For a place built on privacy and new beginnings, Rockton isn’t handling these revelations very well. People are turning on one another, and when one of the loudest complainers turns up barely alive, it’s clear that their trickster is actually a murderer.

The threat of exposure is reaching its breaking point, and no one knows what’s going to happen next.

Review:

Sinister, addictive, and highly entertaining!

The Deepest of Secrets is a gritty, unsettling tale that takes us back to the Yukon and into the small community of Rockton, a refuge and home to a variety of criminals from the south where histories are guarded, secrets are treasured, the governing council may be finally ready to pull the plug, and at least one individual with a penchant for burying people alive may have decided it’s time to uncover and reveal everyone’s past they’re desperately trying to keep hidden.

The writing is sharp and descriptive. The characters are crafty, intelligent, and driven. And the plot unfolds and unravels quickly into a suspenseful, action-packed tale full of twists, turns, manipulation, deception, desperation, duplicity, politics, red herrings, friendship, complex relationships, violence, and murder.

Overall, The Deepest of Secrets is another intricate, atmospheric, edgy addition to the Rockton series by Armstrong that ultimately left me enthralled, surprised, and undoubtedly confident that whatever happens next, Rockton will never be the same.

 

This novel is available now.

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

            

 

 

Thank you to Minotaur Books for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Kelley Armstrong

Kelley Armstrong has been telling stories since before she could write. Her earliest written efforts were disastrous. If asked for a story about girls and dolls, hers would invariably feature undead girls and evil dolls, much to her teachers' dismay. All efforts to make her produce "normal" stories failed.

Today, she continues to spin tales of ghosts and demons and werewolves, while safely locked away in her basement writing dungeon. She's the author of the NYT-bestselling "Women of the Otherworld" paranormal suspense series and "Darkest Powers" young adult urban fantasy trilogy, as well as the Nadia Stafford crime series. Armstrong lives in southwestern Ontario with her husband, kids and far too many pets.

Photograph by Kathryn Hollinrake.

Website | Facebook | Tumblr