Category: 9/10

#BookReview If Tomorrow Never Comes by Allison Ashley @AmazonPub @BookSparks #IfTomorrowNeverComes #AllisonAshley #BookSparks #WRC2025

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#BookReview If Tomorrow Never Comes by Allison Ashley @AmazonPub @BookSparks #IfTomorrowNeverComes #AllisonAshley #BookSparks #WRC2025 Title: If Tomorrow Never Comes

Author: Allison Ashley

Published by: Montlake Romance on Apr. 1, 2025

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Women's Fiction

Pages: 315

Format: Paperback

Source: BookSparks

Book Rating: 9/10

Fate connects two people in life-changing ways in a deeply romantic and emotional novel about hope and second chances by the author of Would You Rather and The Roommate Pact.

Uncertain of what tomorrow brings, Elliott Holland decides to live it up—on the eve of a stem cell transplant to treat her leukemia. It’s destiny when she crosses paths with handsome and charming Jamie Sullivan. The chemistry is magic. So is a beautiful evening that ends with a bittersweet kiss goodbye and no expectations of ever seeing each other again.

One year later, Elliott’s future looks good. Her cancer is in remission. Her career in graphic design is taking off. And she’s finally met Carly, the young woman whose stem cell donation gave Elliott a second chance at life. Then, in a twist of fate both blissful and unfair, she meets Carly’s boyfriend. It’s Jamie, the man Elliott kissed like it was her last day on earth. Neither of them has ever forgotten it.

Now, the most difficult decisions of all lie ahead. Whatever risks there are to the heart, one need wins to grab hold of everything that can make someone feel alive again.

Review:

Thought-provoking, optimistic, and romantic!

If Tomorrow Never Comes is a tender, moving tale that takes you into the life of Elliott Holland, a young woman who, on the eve of a life-or-death surgery, spends one incredible night with a man she will probably never see again until fate intervenes, and one year later she bumps into him only to discover he’s the boyfriend of the woman who saved her life.

The writing is sensitive and sincere. The characters are flawed, genuine, and troubled. And the multi-layered plot is a heartfelt, absorbing tale about life, love, family, friendship, trust, compassion, romance, happiness, destiny, self-reflection, and second chances.

Overall, If Tomorrow Never Comes is an emotional, pensive, heartwarming tale by Ashley that reminds us that life is complicated, things happen for a reason, often the choices we make have consequences, letting people in is never a bad thing, and love is, ultimately, always worth fighting for.

 

This novel is available now.

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

          

 

 

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

 

About Allison Ashley

Allison Ashley is a music-loving, coffee-drinking mom of two who loves love stories. She’s an oncology pharmacist and spends her days focused on helping patients through one of the hardest things life can throw at them. Her escape has always been books—specifically books about happiness, love, and laughter—and it was inevitable that she’d eventually write her own. She promises to always write stories with deep romance, intense connection, and humor…but most of all, that coveted happy ever after.

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#BookReview The Resistance Painter by Kath Jonathan @SimonSchusterCA #TheResistancePainer #KathJonathan #SimonSchusterCA

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#BookReview The Resistance Painter by Kath Jonathan @SimonSchusterCA #TheResistancePainer #KathJonathan #SimonSchusterCA Title: The Resistance Painter

Author: Kath Jonathan

Published by: Simon & Schuster on Mar. 25, 2025

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Historical Fiction

Pages: 448

Format: Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 9/10

An evocative work of historical fiction, examining the little-known story of Poland’s extraordinary WW ll resistance army and the contemporary lives of two artists, grandmother and granddaughter, inextricably linked by a wartime betrayal.

Warsaw 1939. Irena Marianowska’s dreams of attending art school in Paris are crushed when the Nazis invade Poland. Instead, she joins the Home Army and, together with her resistance cell, risks her life guiding people to safety through the sewers of Warsaw. In 1942, after a harrowing mission, she returns home to learn that her sister, Lotka, has been abducted by the Gestapo. In her search for Lotka, Irena encounters a host of characters who lead her into greater danger.

Toronto 2010. Jo Blum lives in Toronto with her beloved grandmother, a lauded painter of WWII and a decorated war hero. Jo has a budding career creating sculptures for grave sites based on the life stories of her dying clients. Her recorded interviews with Stefan, her new Polish client, unveil an heroic wartime past eerily similar to her grandmother’s. But Jo’s quest to uncover the truth about Stefan and her grandmother opens an explosive Pandora’s box whose shockwaves threaten everything she’s known about her family.

Review:

Immersive, hopeful, and heart-wrenching!

The Resistance Painter is a poignant, dual-timeline tale set in Poland during WWII, as well as Toronto in 2010, that takes you into the lives of two main characters. Irena Marianowska, a young woman who, after her dream of attending art school is destroyed due to German invasion, endeavours to help the Polish Resistance in any way she can, and Jo Blum, a creative grave sculptor who, after a new client’s past seems eerily familiar, is resolved to discover all the details and truth about her own grandmother’s past.

The prose is atmospheric and authentic. The characters are vulnerable, brave, and strong. And the plot is an evocative, vivid tale of life, loss, love, family, friendship, grief, perseverance, selflessness, suffering, art, the unimaginable horrors of war, and the importance of sewers during wartime in transporting people to safety.

Overall, The Resistance Painter is an insightful, emotional, beautifully written debut by Jonathan inspired by real-life familial events that reminds us that survival of any kind often involves heartbreaking choices, moral dilemmas, action, spirit, extreme loss and, beyond all else, unimaginable sacrifice and courage.

 

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 Kath Jonathan

A resident of Toronto, Kath Jonathan is a poetry, short story, and novel writer. Her work has been shortlisted for the Marina Nemat Award, a finalist for The Janice Colbert Poetry Award, longlisted for the Puritan’s Thomas Morton Memorial Prize for short story, published in a Penguin Random House chapbook and in online literary magazines. Kath holds a Certificate in creative writing and an MA in English literature, both from the University of Toronto.

Photograph by Marion Voysey.

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#BookReview The Indigo Girl by Natasha Boyd @BlackstoneAudio #NatashaBoyd #TheIndigoGirl #BlackstonePublishing #BlackstoneInsiders

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#BookReview The Indigo Girl by Natasha Boyd @BlackstoneAudio #NatashaBoyd #TheIndigoGirl #BlackstonePublishing #BlackstoneInsiders Title: The Indigo Girl

Author: Natasha Boyd

Published by: Blackstone Publishing on Oct. 3, 2017

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 329

Format: Hardcover

Source: Blackstone Publishing

Book Rating: 9/10

An incredible story of dangerous and hidden friendships, ambition, betrayal, and sacrifice.

The year is 1739. Eliza Lucas is sixteen years old when her father leaves her in charge of their family’s three plantations in rural South Carolina and then proceeds to bleed the estates dry in pursuit of his military ambitions. Tensions with the British, and with the Spanish in Florida, just a short way down the coast, are rising, and slaves are starting to become restless. Her mother wants nothing more than for their South Carolina endeavor to fail so they can go back to England. Soon her family is in danger of losing everything.

Upon hearing how much the French pay for indigo dye, Eliza believes it’s the key to their salvation. But everyone tells her it’s impossible, and no one will share the secret to making it. Thwarted at nearly every turn, even by her own family, Eliza finds that her only allies are an aging horticulturalist, an older and married gentleman lawyer, and a slave with whom she strikes a dangerous deal: teach her the intricate thousand-year-old secret process of making indigo dye and in return — against the laws of the day — she will teach the slaves to read.

So begins an incredible story of love, dangerous and hidden friendships, ambition, betrayal, and sacrifice.

Based on historical documents, including Eliza’s letters, this is a historical fiction account of how a teenage girl produced indigo dye, which became one of the largest exports out of South Carolina, an export that laid the foundation for the incredible wealth of several Southern families who still live on today. Although largely overlooked by historians, the accomplishments of Eliza Lucas influenced the course of US history. When she passed away in 1793, President George Washington served as a pallbearer at her funeral.

This book is set between 1739 and 1744, with romance, intrigue, forbidden friendships, and political and financial threats weaving together to form the story of a remarkable young woman whose actions were before their time: the story of the indigo girl.

Review:

Immersive, evocative, and fascinating!

The Indigo Girl is an atmospheric, absorbing tale that sweeps you away to South Carolina during 1739 and into the life of Eliza Lucas, a sixteen-year-old girl who, after her father leaves her in charge of three of his plantations, endeavours to save her family estates through grit, determination and a little help from three others by producing the challenging, yet lucrative indigo dye.

The prose is eloquent and expressive. The characters are diligent, brave, and independent. And the plot is an absorbing tale of life, loss, love, friendship, familial drama, injustice, support, passion, betrayal, courage, and the ins and outs of indigo dye-making in the early eighteenth century.

Overall, The Indigo Girl is a compelling, rich, illuminating tale by Boyd that I absolutely devoured and which enthralled, entertained, and informed me!

 

This novel is available now.

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

        

 

 

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

 

About Natasha Boyd

Natasha Boyd is a USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling and award-winning author of contemporary romance, romantic comedy, and historical fiction. After hearing one of Eliza Lucas’s descendants speaking about Eliza’s accomplishments, the need to tell her story became so overwhelming that it couldn’t be ignored, and so The Indigo Girl was born. It was long-listed for the Southern Book Prize, was a SIBA Okra Pick, and a Texas Lariat Award winner. Natasha lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

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#BlogTour #BookReview At the Island’s Edge by C.I. Jerez @OverTheRiverPR @AmazonPub #AtTheIslandsEdge #CIJerez #lakeunion #OTRPR

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#BlogTour #BookReview At the Island’s Edge by C.I. Jerez @OverTheRiverPR @AmazonPub #AtTheIslandsEdge #CIJerez #lakeunion #OTRPR Title: At the Island's Edge

Author: C.I. Jerez

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

Genres: General Fiction

Pages: 285

Format: Paperback

Source: Amazon Publishing, OTRPR

Book Rating: 9/10

An Iraq War veteran returns to Puerto Rico to reconnect with—and confront—the past in a heart-wrenching novel about duty, motherhood, and the healing power of home.

As a combat medic, Lina LaSalle went to Iraq to save the lives of fellow soldiers. But when her convoy is attacked, she must set aside her identity as a healer and take a life herself.

Although she is honored as a hero when she returns to the US, Lina cannot find her footing. She is stricken with PTSD and unsure of how to support her young son, Teó, a little boy with Tourette’s. As her attempts to self-medicate become harder to hide, Lina realizes she must do the toughest thing ask for help.

She retreats to her parents’ house in Puerto Rico, where Teó thrives under her family’s care. Lina finds kinship, too—with a cousin whose dreams were also shattered by the war and with a handsome and caring veteran who sought refuge on the island and runs a neighborhood bar.

But amid the magic of the island are secrets and years of misunderstandings that could erode the very stability she’s fighting for. Hope lies on the horizon, but can she keep her gaze steady?

Review:

Sobering, uplifting, and atmospheric!

At the Island’s Edge is a heart-tugging, engrossing tale that takes you into the life of Lina LaSalle, a former combat medic who, after taking a life in Iraq to save her convoy from a suicide bomber, moves back home to Puerto Rico with her young son, only to find herself depending more and more on alcohol to cope with her PTSD.

The prose is vivid and rich. The characters are complex, flawed, and vulnerable. And the plot is a touching mix of tragedy, heartbreak, guilt, redemption, family, community, friendship, survival, hope, mental health, self-forgiveness, and the all-encompassing, unconditional love a parent has for their child.

Overall, At the Island’s Edge is an emotional, reflective, compelling tale by Jerez that is a heartrending reminder of the enduring psychological, physiological, and emotional devastation that is caused by war.

 

This novel is available now.

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

     

 

 

Thank you to OTRPR and Amazon Publishing for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About C.I. Jerez

C.I. Jerez is a proud Latina who was born in Miami. Her mother, a native New Yorker, blessed her with both Puerto Rican and Irish roots, while her father, a Cuban immigrant, inspired her to embrace the culture of the Caribbean. These multicultural influences, including growing up on the West Texas border in El Paso, have shaped her desire to bring Latina and Latino characters to life in her stories.

After graduating from the University of Texas at El Paso, she commissioned as a signal officer in the US Army and rose to the rank of Major before transitioning out of the military. She holds an MBA from Webster University and a doctorate in international business from Liberty University. When not writing, she serves as cofounder and vice president for Ashire Technologies & Services Inc., a cybersecurity firm specializing in securing federal information systems. She lives in central Florida.

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#BookReview All Our Beautiful Goodbyes by Julianne MacLean @FireflyDist @AmazonPub #AllOurBeautifulGoodbyes #JulianneMacLean #LakeUnion #FireflyDist

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#BookReview All Our Beautiful Goodbyes by Julianne MacLean @FireflyDist @AmazonPub #AllOurBeautifulGoodbyes #JulianneMacLean #LakeUnion #FireflyDist Title: All Our Beautiful Goodbyes

Author: Julianne MacLean

Published by: Lake Union Publishing on Mar. 25, 2025

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 366

Format: Paperback

Source: Firefly Distributed Lines

Book Rating: 9/10

1946: World War II is over, and Emma Clarkson is poised to take flight. With dreams of attending university, she’s ready to leave behind the wild beauty of Sable Island, the only home she’s ever known. But when a handsome British sea captain is rescued from a nearby shipwreck, her destiny is forever changed.

Emma falls deeply in love with Oliver Harris, but their romance is not meant to be. Oliver returns to the sea, while Emma vows to forget him and pursue her own ambitions. When a handsome veterinarian arrives on the island to study the wild horses, Emma finds love again, but soon discovers that all is not as it seems…

1995: Mourning the death of her beloved grandmother, Joanna Griffin is shocked to learn that her grandfather once loved a young woman named Emma, but lies, betrayals, and catastrophic events separated them forever. As Joanna crosses an ocean to solve the secrets of her grandfather’s past, she learns that love is a powerful force, even mightier than the passage of time…

A shining thread of hope illuminates this epic tale of lost love and fallen dreams, set in the remote splendor of Nova Scotia and spanning decades.

Review:

Moving, pensive, and absorbing!

All Our Beautiful Goodbyes is set on Sable Island, Nova Scotia, between 1946 and 1995 and is told from two different perspectives. Emma, a young woman who, after being born and raised on this isolated piece of land, is ready to spread her wings and head to the mainland for University until a shipwrecked captain captures her heart and changes the course of her life forever, and Oliver Harris, a British captain who is struggling with an unhappy marriage, his love for the sea, and a woman he only spent a brief amount of time with but one he can’t seem to forget.

The prose is rich and sentimental. The characters are passionate, strong, and flawed. And the plot is a touching tale about life, loss, heartache, forgiveness, familial drama, friendship, courage, hope, resilience, and the unbreakable ties that bind us to those we love.

Overall, All Our Beautiful Goodbyes is an enchanting, heart-tugging, beautiful read by MacLean that reminds us that life is complicated, messy, challenging, short, and heartbreaking, as well as all those other wonderful things, lovely times, and special moments that happen in between.

 

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 Julianne MacLean

Julianne MacLean is a USA Today bestselling author of more than thirty novels, including the contemporary women’s fiction Color of Heaven Series. Readers have described her books as “breathtaking,” “soulful” and “uplifting.” MacLean is a four-time Romance Writers of America RITA finalist and has won numerous awards, including the Booksellers’ Best Award and a Reviewers’ Choice Award from Romantic Times. Her novels have sold millions of copies worldwide and have been published in over a dozen languages.

MacLean has a degree in English literature from the University of King’s College in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and a degree in business administration from Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. She loves to travel and has lived in New Zealand, Canada, and England. MacLean currently resides on the east coast of Canada in a lakeside home with her husband and daughter.

Photo courtesy of Author's Website.

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#BookReview Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave by Elle Cosimano @ElleCosimano @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #MinotaurInfluencers #FinlayDonovanDigsHerOwnGrave #FinlayDonovan #ElleCosimano

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#BookReview Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave by Elle Cosimano @ElleCosimano @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #MinotaurInfluencers #FinlayDonovanDigsHerOwnGrave #FinlayDonovan #ElleCosimano Title: Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave

Author: Elle Cosimano

Series: Finlay Donovan #5

Published by: Minotaur Books on Mar. 4, 2025

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 320

Format: Hardcover

Source: Minotaur Books

Book Rating: 9/10

Finlay Donovan may have skeletons in her closet . . . but at least there’s not a body in her backyard.

Finlay Donovan and her nanny/partner-in-crime, Vero, have not always gotten along with Finlay’s elderly neighbor, Mrs. Haggerty, the community busybody and president of the neighborhood watch. But when a dead body is discovered in her backyard, Mrs. Haggerty needs their help. At first a suspect, Mrs. Haggerty is cleared by the police, but her house remains an active crime scene. She has nowhere to go . . . except Finlay’s house, right across the street.

Finlay and Vero have no interest in getting involved in another murder case—or sacrificing either of their bedrooms. After all, they’ve dealt with enough murders over the last four months to last a lifetime and they both would much rather share their beds with someone else.

Review:

Compelling, mysterious, and witty!

In this fifth instalment in the Finlay Donovan series, Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave, we head back to Virginia and into the lives of mystery writer Finlay Donovan and her sidekick/nanny Vero Ruiz as they find themselves once again entangled in a police investigation when her ex-husband is suddenly arrested for the murder of a man whose body is found buried in a neighbours backyard.

The writing is light and fun. The characters are anxious, creative, and spontaneous. And the plot is a captivating, amusing mix of outrageous mishaps, humorous hijinks, snappy dialogue, familial drama, intrigue, suspense, friendship, mayhem, amateur sleuthing, and tender moments.

Overall, Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave is an addictive, charming, entertaining tale by Cosimano that is another fabulous addition to this much-loved, enjoyable, highly successful, hilarious series.

 

This book is available now.

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

          

 

 

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

 

About Elle Cosimano

ELLE COSIMANO is an award-winning author. Her YA debut, Nearly Gone, was an Edgar Award finalist and winner of the International Thriller Award. Her novel Holding Smoke was a finalist for the International Thriller Award and the Bram Stoker Award. Her essays have appeared in The Huffington Post and Time. Elle lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia with her husband, two sons, and her dog. Finlay Donovan Is Killing It is her adult debut.

Photo by Powell Woulfe Photography.

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#BookReview The Nothing Man by Catherine Ryan Howard @BlackstoneAudio #CatherineRyanHoward #TheNothingMan #BlackstonePublishing #BlackstoneInfluencer

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#BookReview The Nothing Man by Catherine Ryan Howard @BlackstoneAudio #CatherineRyanHoward #TheNothingMan #BlackstonePublishing #BlackstoneInfluencer Title: The Nothing Man

Author: Catherine Ryan Howard

Published by: Blackstone Publishing on Aug. 04, 2020

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 288

Format: Hardcover

Source: Blackstone Publishing

Book Rating: 9/10

At the age of twelve, Eve Black was the only member of her family to survive an encounter with serial attacker the Nothing Man. Now an adult, she is obsessed with identifying the man who destroyed her life.

Supermarket security guard Jim Doyle has just started reading The Nothing Man–the true-crime memoir Eve has written about her efforts to track down her family’s killer. As he turns each page, his rage grows. Because Jim’s not just interested in reading about the Nothing Man. He is the Nothing Man.

Jim soon beings to realize how dangerously close Eve is getting to the truth. He knows she won’t give up until she finds him. He has no choice but to stop her first …

Review:

Unsettling, intricate, and gripping!

The Nothing Man is a skillfully plotted, sinister tale that takes you into the life of Jim Doyle, an elderly security guard who appears to be an honest, loyal, happily married father of one, but behind that reluctant smile lies a depraved secret and a dark impulse to stalk, violate, and murder that only a few know about, most of whom are already dead, except for the one all those years ago who he mistakenly let get away.

The writing is sharp and crisp. The characters are secretive, cunning, and vulnerable. And the plot, using a story within a story, builds quickly, creating intensity and suspense as it unravels all the relationships, motivations, personalities, deception, and devious behaviours within it.

Overall, The Nothing Man is a fast-paced, unnerving, impressive tale by Howard that does an exceptional job of eerily reminding us that even the most heinous of evil often live comfortably amongst us, merely hidden behind masks of normality.

 

This novel is available now.

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

        

 

 

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

 

About Catherine Ryan Howard

Catherine Ryan Howard is an internationally bestselling crime writer from Cork, Ireland. Her work has been shortlisted for the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for Best Novel, the Crime Writers Association (UK) John Creasey/New Blood and Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Awards, and the An Post Irish Crime Fiction Book of the Year multiple times. Her novels had been included in the New York Times Best Thrillers of the Year, the Washington Post’s Best Mysteries and Thrillers of the Year, and the New York Public Library’s Best Books for Adults. Obsession, the TV adaptation of Catherine’s fifth novel, the number one bestseller 56 Days, will debut exclusively on Amazon Prime Video. She lives in Dublin.

Photo by Bríd O’Donovan.

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#BookReview The Story She Left Behind by Patti Callahan Henry @pcalhenry @SimonSchusterCA @AtriaBooks #TheStorySheLeftBehind #PattiCallahanHenry #SimonSchusterCA

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#BookReview The Story She Left Behind by Patti Callahan Henry @pcalhenry @SimonSchusterCA @AtriaBooks #TheStorySheLeftBehind #PattiCallahanHenry #SimonSchusterCA Title: The Story She Left Behind

Author: Patti Callahan Henry

Published by: Atria Books on Mar. 18, 2025

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 352

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 9/10

The New York Times bestselling author of The Secret Book of Flora Lea returns with a novel spanning three generations of women about a famous lost book, a famous lost mother, and an artist searching for both.

In 1927, in Bluffton, South Carolina, a famous American—former child prodigy author Bronwyn Newcastle Fordham—disappears, abandoning her eight-year-old daughter and husband. She leaves behind a sequel to her children’s fantasy blockbuster about a young girl named Emjie who is caught between worlds. But the sequel is written in the author’s secret and untranslatable created language.

Now in 1952, Bronwyn’s lost words have been discovered in a private library in England by a man called Charlie Jameson. Bronwyn’s daughter, Clara Harrington, a children’s book illustrator and divorced mother of one, goes on a quest to England to retrieve the lost words of her mother, words she believes will translate the sequel and help her discover what happened and why her mother abandoned her. Clara takes along her own eight-year-old daughter, Winnie, who is precocious, funny, and wise, and who has an imaginary friend, also called Emjie, after her lost grandmother’s novel.

But when Clara and Wynnie sail to England, they arrive during one of London’s greatest natural disasters—the Great Smog. Wynnie is a fragile child with asthma and the air is deadly. Charlie Jameson helps them escape London and make their way to his family’s country home in the Lake District, where the tale unfolds in the wild and glorious landscape of Esthwaite Water and the land of Beatrix Potter. It is there that the tangled roots that tie Charlie and Clara together will be revealed, and the fate—not only of Emjie, but of Bronwyn herself—will come to light.

Review:

Compelling, heart-tugging, and immersive!

The Story She Left Behind is a sensitive, thoughtful tale that takes you back to 1952 and into the life of Clara Harrington, a young illustrator, who after being contacted about some of her mother’s long lost papers, travels from South Carolina to the countryside of England to finally unravel the words her mother left behind, and perhaps at long last discover what really happened all those years ago when her mother up and left and disappeared without a trace.

The writing is passionate and moving. The characters are stuck, wary, and wistful. And the plot, using flashbacks and a back-and-forth style, sweeps you away into an engaging, touching, heartfelt tale about life, loss, friendship, family, heartbreak, tragedy, regret, forgiveness, the magic of books, and love.

Overall, The Story She Left Behind is a charming, absorbing, atmospheric tale by Henry that I absolutely adored and which is a beautiful reminder of the power that words have to touch, heal, move, and provide hope.

 

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 Patti Callahan Henry

Patti Callahan Henry is a New York Times bestselling author of thirteen novels, including the upcoming BECOMING MRS. LEWIS – The Improbable Love Story of Joy Davidman and C.S. Lewis. A finalist in the Townsend Prize for Fiction, an Indie Next Pick, an OKRA pick, and a multiple nominee for the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA) Novel of the Year, Patti is a frequent speaker at luncheons, book clubs and women’s groups. The mother of three children, she now lives in both Mountain Brook, Alabama and Bluffton, South Carolina with her husband.

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

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

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#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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