Category: 8.5/10

#BookReview The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper @ElodieITV @UnionSqandCo #TheWolfDen #ElodieHarper #UnionSqandCo

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#BookReview The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper @ElodieITV @UnionSqandCo #TheWolfDen #ElodieHarper #UnionSqandCo Title: The Wolf Den

Author: Elodie Harper

Series: Wolf Den Trilogy #1

Published by: Union Square & Co. on Mar. 29, 2022

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 488

Format: ARC, Paperback

Book Rating: 8.5/10

Sold by her impoverished mother. Enslaved in an infamous brothel in Pompeii. Determined to fight for her freedom at all costs. . . . Enter into the Wolf Den.

Amara was once the beloved daughter of a doctor in Greece, until her father’s sudden death plunged her mother into destitution. Now Amara is a slave and prostitute in Pompeii’s notorious Wolf Den brothel or lupanar, owned by a cruel and ruthless man. Intelligent and resourceful, she is forced to hide her true self. But her spirit is far from broken. Buoyed by the sisterhood she forges with the brothel’s other women, Amara finds solace in the laughter and hopes they all share. For the streets of the city are alive with opportunity—here, even the lowest-born slave can dream of a new beginning. But everything in Pompeii has a price. How much will Amara’s freedom cost her? The Wolf Den is the first in a trilogy of novels about the lives of women in ancient Pompeii.

Review:

Fascinating, raw, and alluring!

The Wolf Den is a captivating, immersive, tragic tale that takes you back to Southern Italy during A.D. 74 and to the life of Amara, the educated daughter of a doctor from Greece who, after being sold by her mother and ending up the slave of a barbaric pimp in Pompeii, is determined to do whatever it takes to regain her freedom, body and soul, once and for all.

The prose is rich and vivid. The characters are bold, ambitious, vulnerable, and shrewd. And the plot is an absorbing saga of all the hopes, fears, sacrifices, struggles, treachery and entangled relationships faced by one group of enslaved women.

The Wolf Den is, ultimately, a story about life, loss, love, politics, power, corruption, greed, riches, desires, sacrifice, friendship, savagery, abuse, violence, and early prostitution. It’s an atmospheric, compelling, insightful tale by Harper that does a beautiful job of highlighting her impressive research and considerable knowledge of the Roman city of Pompeii and the lifestyles, hardships, and treatment women most likely endured during that time.

 

This novel is available now.

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

            

 

 

Thank you to Union Square & Co. for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Elodie Harper

Elodie Harper is a journalist and prize-winning short story writer. Her story 'Wild Swimming' won the 2016 Bazaar of Bad Dreams short story competition, which was judged by Stephen King.

She is currently a reporter at ITV News Anglia, and before that worked as a producer for Channel 4 News. Her job as a journalist has seen her join one of the most secretive wings of the Church of Scientology and cover the far right hip hop scene in Berlin, as well as crime reporting in Norfolk where her first two novels were set – The Binding Song and The Death Knock.

Elodie studied Latin poetry both in the original and in translation as part of her English Literature degree at Oxford, instilling a lifelong interest in the ancient world. The Wolf Den is the first in a trilogy of novels about the lives of women in ancient Pompeii.

Photo courtesy of Author's Website.

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#BookReview The Many Daughters of Afong Moy by Jamie Ford @JamieFord @AtriaBooks @SimonSchusterCA #JamieFord #TheManyDaughtersofAfongMoy

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#BookReview The Many Daughters of Afong Moy by Jamie Ford @JamieFord @AtriaBooks @SimonSchusterCA #JamieFord #TheManyDaughtersofAfongMoy Title: The Many Daughters of Afong Moy

Author: Jamie Ford

Published by: Atria Books on Aug. 2, 2022

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 384

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

The New York Times bestselling author of the “mesmerizing and evocative” (Sara Gruen, author of Water for Elephants) Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet returns with a powerful exploration of the love that binds one family across the generations.

Dorothy Moy breaks her own heart for a living.

As Washington’s former poet laureate, that’s how she describes channeling her dissociative episodes and mental health struggles into her art. But when her five-year-old daughter exhibits similar behavior and begins remembering things from the lives of their ancestors, Dorothy believes the past has truly come to haunt her. Fearing that her child is predestined to endure the same debilitating depression that has marked her own life, Dorothy seeks radical help.

Through an experimental treatment designed to mitigate inherited trauma, Dorothy intimately connects with past generations of women in her family: Faye Moy, a nurse in China serving with the Flying Tigers; Zoe Moy, a student in England at a famous school with no rules; Lai King Moy, a girl quarantined in San Francisco during a plague epidemic; Greta Moy, a tech executive with a unique dating app; and Afong Moy, the first Chinese woman to set foot in America.

As painful recollections affect her present life, Dorothy discovers that trauma isn’t the only thing she’s inherited. A stranger is searching for her in each time period. A stranger who’s loved her through all of her genetic memories. Dorothy endeavors to break the cycle of pain and abandonment, to finally find peace for her daughter, and gain the love that has long been waiting, knowing she may pay the ultimate price.

Review:

Sentimental, thought-provoking, and memorable!

The Many Daughters of Afong Moy is an intriguing novel that takes you into the lives of seven generations of Moy women over a two hundred and fifty-year span, from Afong Moy, the first Chinese woman to live on American soil, to Dorothy, a young woman determined to do whatever it takes, even experimental research, to discover the source of her distress and hallucinations in order to protect her daughter from suffering a similar fate.

The prose is expressive and eloquent. The characters are conflicted, fragile, and raw. And the plot told in a back-and-forth, past/future style is a compelling tale of life, loss, love, family, friendship, tragedy, mental illness, discrimination, self-discovery, desperation, heartbreak, self-preservation, anamnesis, and epigenetics.

Overall, The Many Daughters of Afong Moy made me think, made me feel, and resonated long after the final page. It’s a unique, emotional, absorbing tale by Ford that raises some interesting questions about what emotional trauma on top of our physical traits we may actually be inheriting as well as passing down.

 

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 providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Jamie Ford

Jamie Ford is the great-grandson of Nevada mining pioneer Min Chung, who emigrated from Hoiping, China to San Francisco in 1865, where he adopted the western name Ford, thus confusing countless generations. His debut novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, spent two years on the New York Times bestseller list and went on to win the 2010 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature. His work has been translated into thirty-five languages. Having grown up in Seattle, he now lives in Montana with his wife and a one-eyed pug.

Photo by Eric Heidle.

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#BookReview Diana, William, and Harry by James Patterson & Chris Mooney @JP_Books @cmooneybooks @HBGCanada @littlebrown #DianaWilliamHarry #JamesPatterson #ChrisMooney #HBGCanada #LittleBrown

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#BookReview Diana, William, and Harry by James Patterson & Chris Mooney @JP_Books @cmooneybooks @HBGCanada @littlebrown #DianaWilliamHarry #JamesPatterson #ChrisMooney #HBGCanada #LittleBrown Title: Diana, William, and Harry

Author: James Patterson, Chris Mooney

Published by: Little Brown and Company on Aug. 15, 2022

Genres: Nonfiction

Pages: 448

Format: Hardcover

Source: HBG Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

From the moments William and Harry are born into the House of Windsor, they become their young mother’s whole world. 
 
I’ve got two very healthy, strong boys. I realize how incredibly lucky I am, Diana reminds herself every morning. But even the Princess of Wales questions, Am I a good mother?  
 
Diana’s faced with a seemingly impossible challenge: one son destined to be King of England and another determined to find his own way.  She teaches them to honor royal tradition, even while daring to break it. 
 
“Sometimes I’d like a time machine…” Diana says as William and Harry grow up, never imagining they’d have less than a lifetime together. Even after she’s gone, her sons follow their mother’s lead—and her heart. As the years pass and William and Harry grow into adulthood and form families of their own, they carry on Diana’s name, her likeness, and her incomparable spirit.

Review:

Eye-opening, interesting, and informative!

Diana, William, and Harry is the detailed, perceptive biography of Princess Diana and her two sons, William and Harry, from the time of her introduction to Prince Charles, her fairytale wedding, her delight in being a mother, a divorce that rocked the monarchy, an early tragic death, and the pressures, responsibilities, and sadness for two motherless boys growing up to date, wed, take on careers, and become parents themselves under a bright and never-fading spotlight.

The writing is crisp and clear. The characters are inspiring, hardworking, and driven. And the novel is a compelling tale of the highs and lows involved in being a member of the most popular monarchy in the world.

Overall, Diana, William, and Harry was a nostalgic read for me as I remember both getting up early to see the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana and being consumed by the horrific breaking news of her fatal car accident on the streets of Paris. It is also, ultimately, a well-researched, insightful read about a strong, independent woman and her two sons, beloved by all, and their constant struggles and challenges with the paparazzi, lack of freedom, and life within an institution where image, tradition, and responsibility are valued above all else.

 

This book is available now.

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

                

 

 

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

 

About Chris Mooney

Hailed as “one of the best thriller writers working today” by Lee Child and “a wonderful writer” by Michael Connelly, Chris Mooney is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Walk in My Combat Boots, written with James Patterson. His recent books include ER Nurses and Blood World.

His fourth book, The Missing, the first in the Darby McCormick series, was a main selection of the International Book of the Month Club and an instant bestseller in over thirteen countries. The Mystery Writer’s Association nominated Chris’s third book, Remembering Sarah, for an Edgar Award for Best Novel. Foreign rights to his novels have been sold to twenty-eight territories. He has sold nearly two million copies of his books.

Chris teaches writing courses at Harvard and the Harvard Extension School.

Photo courtesy of Author's Website.

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About James Patterson

JAMES PATTERSON is one of the best-known and biggest-selling writers of all time. His books have sold in excess of 385 million copies worldwide. He is the author of some of the most popular series of the past two decades - the Alex Cross, Women's Murder Club, Detective Michael Bennett and Private novels - and he has written many other number one bestsellers including romance novels and stand- alone thrillers.

Photo courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.

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#BookReview The Double Life of Katharine Clark by Katharine Gregorio @ktu48 @Sourcebooks #KatharineGregorio #Sourcebooks #TheDoubleLifeofKatharineClark

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#BookReview The Double Life of Katharine Clark by Katharine Gregorio @ktu48 @Sourcebooks #KatharineGregorio #Sourcebooks #TheDoubleLifeofKatharineClark Title: The Double Life of Katharine Clark

Author: Katharine Gregorio

Published by: Sourcebooks on Apr. 15, 2022

Genres: Nonfiction

Pages: 384

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Sourcebooks

Book Rating: 8.5/10

In 1955, Katharine Clark, the first American woman wire reporter behind the Iron Curtain, saw something none of her male colleagues did. What followed became one of the most unusual adventure stories of the Cold War.

While on assignment in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, Clark befriended a man who, by many definitions, was her enemy. But she saw something in Milovan Djilas, a high-ranking Communist leader who dared to question the ideology he helped establish, that made her want to work with him. It became the assignment of her life.

Against the backdrop of protests in Poland and a revolution in Hungary, she risked her life to ensure Djilas’s work made it past the watchful eye of the Yugoslavian secret police to the West. She single-handedly was responsible for smuggling his scathing anti-Communism manifesto, The New Class, out of Yugoslavia and into the hands of American publishers. The New Class would go on to sell three million copies worldwide, become a New York Times bestseller, be translated into over 60 languages, and be used by the CIA in its covert book program.

Meticulously researched and written by Clark’s great-niece, Katharine Gregorio, The Double Life of Katharine Clark illuminates a largely untold chapter of the twentieth century. It shows how a strong-willed, fiercely independent woman with an ardent commitment to truth, justice and freedom put her life on the line to share ideas with the world, ultimately transforming both herself―and history―in the process.

Review:

Intriguing, informative, and descriptive!

The Double Life of Katharine Clark is the insightful, meticulous story of Katharine Clark’s personal and professional successes, frustrations, experiences, sacrifices, and accomplishments as an International News Service journalist stationed in Eastern Europe during the early stages of the Cold War.

The writing is clear and precise. And the novel is a compelling, absorbing tale of one woman’s dedication and passion, under extremely dangerous circumstances, to help record and have published a manuscript and a series of articles dictated and written by a high-ranking communist officer, Milovan Djilas, who was subsequently arrested and jailed for his criticism of the Yugoslavia government.

The Double Life of Katharine Clark is, ultimately, a valuable, suspenseful, insightful biography by Gregorio inspired by real-life events that does an exceptional job of highlighting her impressive research into her great aunt’s plight as a female journalist during the 1950s and her extraordinary courage and determination to do whatever it took to have an important story told and heard.

This novel is available now.

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

            

 

 

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

 

About Katharine Gregorio

Katharine Gregorio was inspired to write The Double Life of Katharine Clark when she uncovered a family secret about her great-aunt who worked as a foreign correspondent in Europe during the height of the Cold War. Years in the making, Katharine leveraged her degrees in history from Dartmouth College and international relations from The London School of Economics & Political Science in her quest to unravel the story. She also holds a masters in business administration from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Katharine resides with her family in San Francisco.

Photo by Lacey Khiev.

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#BookReview The Wedding Plot by Paula Munier @PaulaSMunier @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #MinotaurInfluencers #MercyCarr #TheWeddingPlot #PaulaMunier #SMPInfluencers

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#BookReview The Wedding Plot by Paula Munier @PaulaSMunier @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #MinotaurInfluencers #MercyCarr #TheWeddingPlot #PaulaMunier #SMPInfluencers Title: The Wedding Plot

Author: Paula Munier

Series: Mercy & Elvis #4

Published by: Minotaur Books on Jul. 19, 2022

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 352

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Minotaur Books

Book Rating: 8.5/10

The Wedding Plot, USA Today bestselling author Paula Munier’s fourth Mercy Carr mystery, finds Mercy and Elvis at a deadly Vermont wedding.

Love never dies a natural death…

When Mercy’s grandmother Patience marries her longtime beau Claude Renault at the five-star Lady’s Slipper Inn, it promises to be the destination wedding of the year. Just as the four-day extravaganza is due to begin, the inn’s spa director Bodhi St. George disappears—and Mercy’s mother Grace sends Mercy and Elvis to find him. But what they discover instead is a stranger skewered by a pitchfork in the barn on the goat farm where St. George lived.

As Mercy tries to figure out who the victim is and where St. George is hiding, the bride and groom’s estranged relations gather for the first of the pre-wedding festivities. Long-buried rivalries and resentments surface—and Mercy realizes that they’re all keeping secrets that could tear both families apart. When Elvis interrupts the escalating melodrama to alert Mercy to an intruder on the estate, she finds a wounded St. George in the cottage where she and Troy are staying. St. George is not who he says he is—but when he escapes from the hospital and disappears again, Mercy thinks he’s gone for good. With the wedding imminent and the families at each other’s throats, she decides finding St. George will have to wait.

The big day arrives—but the danger is far from over. With the families and the festivities still under threat, it’s up to Mercy and Elvis together with Troy and Susie Bear to stop the killer and save the bride and groom—before death do they part.

Review:

Mysterious, cosy, and intricate!

In this satisfying fourth instalment in the Mercy & Elvis Mysteries, The Wedding Plot, Munier has written an amusing, sinister thriller that finds former MP Mercy Carr having more than just her hands full with pre-wedding mayhem at the location of her grandmother’s upcoming nuptials, the Lady’s Slipper Inn when the spa director goes missing, an unidentified person is found dead on the property of the local goat farm, and her special sidekick Elvis accidentally uncovers the skeletal remains of a woman who seems to have been murdered and buried more than twenty years ago.

The prose is fluid and smooth. The characters are persistent, resourceful, and clever. And the plot is an engaging tale full of twists, turns, surprises, red herrings, familial drama, danger, tension, a smidge of romance, and murder.

Overall, The Wedding Plot is a clever, fun, easy read by Munier that is absorbing, entertaining, and the perfect choice for anyone who enjoys a lighthearted mystery featuring some very intelligent, helpful, four-legged friends. 

 

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 providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Paula Munier

PAULA MUNIER is a literary agent and the USA TODAY bestselling author of the Mercy Carr mysteries. A Borrowing of Bones, the first in the series, was nominated for the Mary Higgins Clark Award and named the Dogwise Book of the Year. Blind Search was inspired by the real-life rescue of a little boy with autism who got lost in the woods. The Hiding Place debuted in March 2021. Paula credits the hero dogs of Mission K9 Rescue, her own rescue dogs, and a deep love of New England as her series’ major influences. Paula has also written the popular books on writing: Plot Perfect, The Writer’s Guide to Beginnings, and Writing with Quiet Hands, as well as Fixing Freddie and Happier Every Day. She lives in New England with her family and Bear the Newfoundland-retriever rescue, Bliss the Great Pyrenees-Australian cattle dog rescue, pandemic puppy Blondie, a Malinois rescue (much like Elvis in her books), and Ursula The Cat, a rescue torbie tabby who does not think much of the dogs.

Photo by Lynne Wayne.

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#BookReview When Sparks Fly by Jo McNally @JoMcNallyAuthor @KayePublicity @HarlequinBooks #JoMcNally #WhenSparksFly #RendezvousFalls #KayePublicity

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#BookReview When Sparks Fly by Jo McNally @JoMcNallyAuthor @KayePublicity @HarlequinBooks #JoMcNally #WhenSparksFly #RendezvousFalls #KayePublicity Title: When Sparks Fly

Author: Jo McNally

Series: Rendezvous Falls #5

Published by: Harlequin Books on Aug. 9, 2022

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 416

Format: Paperback

Source: Harlequin Books, Kaye Publicity

Book Rating: 8.5/10

What if the one who’s off-limits…is really the one?

Between her business, her recent divorce and her teenage daughter who needs her right now, Zoey Hartford has her hands full. Thank goodness she has her best friend, Mike McKinnon, to keep her laughing. Zoey and Mike have gone through everything together—from chemistry class to heartbreak. They would never risk their friendship…until one unexpected but sizzling night changes everything.

Mike is torn. Funny, down-to-earth Zoey in her flannel shirts and messy ponytail always seems so in control…until she melts into his arms. But he won’t come between Zoey and her daughter. They’ll just keep it casual. No drama. No feelings. No messiness. What could go wrong?

But the meddling, matchmaking book club won’t be denied. They may not have set them up, but they recognize a perfect match when they see one. And they’re determined to help Zoey see what’s been right in front of her for so long…

In Lost in Love, single mom Andrea will do anything to make the fall festival a success…even ask the town bad boy for his help.

Review:

Engaging, heartfelt, and fun!

When Sparks Fly is an alluring, tender, friends-to-lovers romance that transports you to the idyllic Rendezvous Falls and into the lives of the reliable, handsome Mike McKinnon and the hardworking, single mother Zoey Hartford as they discover that even though they’ve been the best of friends forever perhaps there’s a little something more underneath that’s worth taking a chance on.

The writing is light and playful. The characters are supportive, kind, and genuine. And the plot is an entertaining, amusing mix of friendship, family, community, responsibilities, parenthood, snappy banter, undeniable chemistry, humorous moments, small-town antics, and unconditional love.

Overall, When Sparks Fly is a sexy, sweet, uplifting tale by McNally with characters I couldn’t help but fall in love with, a charming storyline that kept me engaged from start to finish, and a happy-ever-after ending that made me swoon.

 

This book is available now.

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

           

 

 

Thank you to Harlequin Books and Kaye Publicity for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Jo McNally

Jo McNally lives in coastal North Carolina with 100 pounds of dog and 200 pounds of husband – her slice of the bed is very small. When she's not writing or reading romance novels (or clinging to the edge of the bed...), she can often be found on the back porch sipping wine with friends, listening to great music. If the weather is absolutely perfect, she'll occasionally join her husband on the golf course, where she always feels far more competitive than her actual skill-level would suggest.

Photograph by Jo McNally.

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#BookReview Can’t Look Away by Carola Lovering @StMartinsPress #CantLookAway #CarolaLovering #StMartinsPress #SMPInfluencers

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#BookReview Can’t Look Away by Carola Lovering @StMartinsPress #CantLookAway #CarolaLovering #StMartinsPress #SMPInfluencers Title: Can't Look Away

Author: Carola Lovering

Published by: St. Martin's Press on Jun. 14, 2022

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 320

Format: Hardcover

Source: St. Martin's Press

Book Rating: 8.5/10

In 2013, twenty-three-year old Molly Diamond is a barista, dreaming of becoming a writer. One night at a concert in East Williamsburg, she locks eyes with the lead singer, Jake Danner, and can’t look away. Molly and Jake fall quickly and deeply in love, especially after he writes a hit song about her that puts his band on the map.

Nearly a decade later, Molly has given up writing and is living in Flynn Cove, Connecticut with her young daughter and her husband Hunter—who is decidedly not Jake Danner. Their life looks picture-perfect, but Molly is lonely; she feels out of place with the other women in their wealthy suburb, and is struggling to conceive their second child. When Sabrina, a newcomer in town, walks into the yoga studio where Molly teaches and confesses her own fertility struggles, Molly believes she’s finally found a friend.

But Sabrina has her own reasons for moving to Flynn Cove and befriending Molly. And as Sabrina’s secrets are slowly unspooled, her connection to Molly becomes clearer––as do secrets of Molly’s own, which she’s worked hard to keep buried.

Meanwhile, a new version of Jake’s hit song is on the radio, forcing Molly to confront her past and ask the ultimate questions: What happens when life turns out nothing like we thought it would, when we were young and dreaming big? Does growing up mean choosing with your head, rather than your heart? And do we ever truly get over our first love?

Review:

Brisk, sinister, and tight!

Can’t Look Away is a gripping psychological thriller that takes you on a journey into the life of the sweet, lonely Molly Hunter as she juggles living in a small community, being a caring wife and mother, ongoing struggles with infertility, memories of an all-consuming relationship that changed her life forever, and a new friend who is too good to be true.

The prose is crisp and tense. The characters are secretive, troubled, and vulnerable. And the plot using flashbacks and a back-and-forth, past/present style, intertwines and unravels quickly into a menacing tale of family, friendship, deception, lies, drama, manipulation, jealousy, secrets, revelations, tragedy, betrayal, and young love.

Overall, Can’t Look Away is another taut, tortuous, riveting tale by Lovering that highlights just how fine the line between love and obsession can truly be and reminds us that every choice, good or bad, always has a consequence.

 

This book 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 for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Carola Lovering

Carola Lovering is the author of TELL ME LIES (Atria Books) and TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE (St. Martin's Press). She attended Colorado College, and her writing has appeared in W Magazine, National Geographic, Outside, and Yoga Journal, among other publications. She lives in Connecticut with her husband and son.

Photo courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.

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#BookReview After We Were Stolen by Brooke Beyfuss @Sourcebooks @sbkslandmark #AfterWeWereStolen #BrookeBeyfuss #bookmarkedbylandmark

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#BookReview After We Were Stolen by Brooke Beyfuss @Sourcebooks @sbkslandmark #AfterWeWereStolen #BrookeBeyfuss #bookmarkedbylandmark Title: After We Were Stolen

Author: Brooke Beyfuss

Published by: Sourcebooks Landmark on Jul. 19, 2022

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 320

Format: Paperback

Source: Sourcebooks Landmark

Book Rating: 8.5/10

An emotionally wrought debut novel perfect for book clubs about a girl who escapes from a cult after a deadly fire destroys her family’s compound, only to be haunted by That Night as she tries to build a new life for herself.

A fire. Her escape. And the realization her entire life has been a lie.

When nineteen-year-old Avery awakens to flames consuming her family’s remote compound, she knows it’s her only chance to escape her father’s grueling survival training, bizarre rules, and gruesome punishments. She and her brother Cole flee the grounds for the first time in their lives, suddenly homeless in a world they know nothing about. After months of hiding out, they are arrested for shoplifting and a shocking discovery is made—Avery and Cole were kidnapped fifteen years earlier, stolen by cult leaders they knew as Mom and Dad.

Cole is immediately returned to his birth family, leaving Avery alone and desperate. She is uncertain if her “parents” survived the fire and is terrified to find out. The loss of Cole and the trauma of her former life threaten to undo her, but when the police investigation reveals there may be more survivors, Avery must uncover the truth about the fire to truly be free.

Suspenseful, emotionally charged, and deeply thought-provoking, After We Were Stolen delves into the idea of family—those we’re born into and those we make—resilience, and the lengths a cult survivor will go to finally be free of her painful past. Brooke Beyfuss’s powerful debut novel sparkles with heart, grit, and extraordinary characters who will stay with you long after the last page.

Review:

Intense, heart-wrenching, and tragic!

After We Were Stolen is a gripping, emotional mystery that sweeps you away to Kansas and into the life of Avery, a nineteen-year-old young woman who, after waking to a fire engulfing her family’s strict, abusive, survivalist compound, endeavours to find safety and start a new life with her younger brother, Cole as far away as possible until a shoplifting arrest turns her whole life upside down and changes everything she thought she knew about her past, her family, and who she really is.

The writing is raw and expressive. The characters are vulnerable, confused, and scarred. And the plot is a haunting tale of life, loss, secrets, resilience, sexual assault, abuse, childhood trauma, shocking revelations, self-identification, and redemption.

Overall, After We Were Stolen is a powerful, moving, beautiful debut by Beyfuss that takes you on a roller coaster ride of the emotional and psychological effects of long-term manipulation, control, indoctrination, and deviant ideologies and reminds us that even after suffering the most unimaginable cruelty and wickedness humanity still has an innate ability to hope and want to love again.

 

This book is available now.

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

            

 

 

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

 

About Brooke Beyfuss

BROOKE BEYFUSS works full-time as a copywriter. A graduate of Rutgers University, Brooke is the founder of the Woodbridge Cultural Arts' Commission Writing Group. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and daughter. AFTER WE WERE STOLEN is her debut novel.

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#BookReview The Kingdoms of Savannah by George Dawes Green @CeladonBooks #KingdomsOfSavannah #CeladonBooks #CeladonReads #partner

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#BookReview The Kingdoms of Savannah by George Dawes Green @CeladonBooks #KingdomsOfSavannah #CeladonBooks #CeladonReads #partner Title: The Kingdoms of Savannah

Author: George Dawes Green

Published by: Celadon Books on Jul. 19, 2022

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 304

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Celadon Books

Book Rating: 8.5/10

Savannah may appear to be “some town out of a fable,” with its vine flowers, turreted mansions, and ghost tours that romanticize the city’s history. But look deeper and you’ll uncover secrets, past and present, that tell a more sinister tale. It’s the story at the heart of George Dawes Green’s chilling new novel, The Kingdoms of Savannah.

It begins quietly on a balmy Southern night as some locals gather at Bo Peep’s, one of the town’s favorite watering holes. Within an hour, however, a man will be murdered and his companion will be “disappeared.” An unlikely detective, Morgana Musgrove, doyenne of Savannah society, is called upon to unravel the mystery of these crimes. Morgana is an imperious, demanding, and conniving woman, whose four grown children are weary of her schemes. But one by one she inveigles them into helping with her investigation, and soon the family uncovers some terrifying truths—truths that will rock Savannah’s power structure to its core.

Moving from the homeless encampments that ring the city to the stately homes of Savannah’s elite, Green’s novel brilliantly depicts the underbelly of a city with a dark history and the strangely mesmerizing dysfunction of a complex family.

Review:

Haunting, complex, and intense!

The Kingdoms of Savannah is a charged, gripping mystery that sweeps you away to Savannah, Georgia, and into the lives of the prominent, dysfunctional Musgrove family as they reluctantly, at the persistence of their matriarch Morgana, band together to solve the callous murder of a young homeless man and the disappearance of a middle-aged woman who seems to have discovered some long-buried secrets that at least one person is willing to kill to keep hidden in the past.

The prose is powerful and polished. The characters are flawed, ruthless, and self-absorbed. And the plot is a captivating, menacing mix of life, loss, secrets, deception, privilege, resentments, greed, corruption, homelessness, familial drama, and harrowing truths.

Overall, I found The Kingdoms of Savannah to be a gritty, provocative, tight novel by Green that’s a must read for anyone who loves a well-written mystery interlaced with a dramatic, family saga all mired in the dark, racially toxic history of the south.

 

This novel is available on July 19, 2022.

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

            

 

 

 

Thank you to Celadon Books for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About George Dawes Green

George Dawes Green, founder of The Moth, is an internationally celebrated author. His first novel, The Caveman’s Valentine, won the Edgar Award and became a motion picture starring Samuel L. Jackson. The Juror was an international bestseller in more than twenty languages and was the basis for the movie starring Demi Moore and Alec Baldwin. Ravens was chosen as one of the best books of 2009 by the Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Daily Mail of London, and many other publications. George Green grew up in Georgia and now lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Photo by Syrie Moskowitz.

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#BookReview I Told You This Would Happen by Elaine Murphy @ElaineMbooks @HBGCanada @GrandCentralPub #ElaineMurphy #IToldYouThisWouldHappen #HBGCanada #GCPInsider

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#BookReview I Told You This Would Happen by Elaine Murphy @ElaineMbooks @HBGCanada @GrandCentralPub #ElaineMurphy #IToldYouThisWouldHappen #HBGCanada #GCPInsider Title: I Told You This Would Happen

Author: Elaine Murphy

Published by: Grand Central Publishing on Jul. 12, 2022

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 384

Format: Paperback

Source: HBG Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

Carrie’s sister is dead.

Four months after losing her sister, Becca—a serial killer unknown to everyone else in town—Carrie Lawrence is finally free of her manipulative clutches. From now on, she’s keeping her hands clean, no more hiding dead bodies in the middle of the night, no more lies.

She’s never been happier.

Then she attends a meeting of the Brampton Kill Seekers, a group of amateur local sleuths, and learns that a recent victim left behind a note that incriminates her in their disappearance. All of a sudden the quiet, law-abiding life she’s been planning starts to unravel.

She’s never had so much to lose.

In her frantic quest to keep her secret dead and buried, she discovers someone nefarious lurking in the shadows…someone who’ll go to any lengths to bring her dark truths to light. Now if Carrie wants her secrets to stay hidden, she’ll have to get her hands very, very dirty.

Review:

Gripping, mysterious, and sinister!

I Told You This Would Happen is a crafty, complex thriller that takes us back to Brampton, Maine and into the life of Carrie Lawrence, a young woman who is now struggling to juggle her mixed feelings of elation and unease over the death of her manipulative serial killer sister as well as her ever-increasing guilt and dread over just how many secrets and skeletons the local amateur sleuthing group, the Brampton Kill Seekers, will finally unearth and uncover.

The writing is brisk and witty. The characters are consumed, devious, and deceitful. And the plot builds quickly into a mischievous tale of deception, manipulation, secrets, malicious intentions, revelations, deviance, cunning behaviours, familial obligation, and murder.

Overall, I Told You This Would Happen is an edgy, intricate, twisty follow-up by Murphy that kept me amused from the very first page and was an exceptionally entertaining and satisfying conclusion to last years debut Look What You Made Me Do.

 

This novel is available now.

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

            

 

 

 

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

 

About Elaine Murphy

Elaine Murphy is a Canadian author who has lived on both coasts and several places in between. Among other things, she has volunteered in Zambia, taught English in China, jumped off a bridge, and out of an airplane. She has a diploma in Writing for Film & Television but has never worked in either field. She took an interest in the dark side and began plotting suspense and thrillers. She enjoys putting ordinary people in extraordinarily difficult situations and seeing what they do about it. She lives in Vancouver, Canada.

Photo by Laura Shortt Photography.

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