#BookReview The Boundary Stone (The Sockbridge Series #1) by Gail Avery Halverson @gailhalv #TheBoundaryStone

#BookReview The Boundary Stone (The Sockbridge Series #1) by Gail Avery Halverson @gailhalv #TheBoundaryStone Title: The Boundary Stone

Author: Gail Avery Halverson

Series: Stockbridge #1

Published by: Knight Wenstrom Publishers on Nov. 16, 2015

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 328

Format: Paperback

Source: Gail Avery Halverson

Book Rating: 9/10

Bound since childhood to an arranged marriage with the restless and irresponsible heir of Houghton Hall, Viscount Miles Houghton; Lady Catherine Abbott, now grown, finds herself torn between duty to her family and her smoldering ambitions. Possessed of a nimble, curious mind, a love of science and the natural world, and a singular talent for illustration, Catherine desperately longs to accomplish something before she resigns herself to a loveless marriage and the idle, aristocratic whirl of parties and social gatherings within the confines of the palatial Houghton Hall.

Banished before his final year of medical training for pushing harder on the boundaries of scientific knowledge than any student at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, the mysterious and driven Simon McKensie has blurred the lines between research and criminality and must now choose between exile to the rural country village of Wells, or the hangman’s noose.

When the terrifying Great Plague of 1665 spreads from London to Wells, the town’s very existence is threatened and Catherine must confront her fears, her place in the world – and the burning passions she has long held inside.


Review:

Informative, fascinating, and incredibly absorbing!

The Boundary Stone is an immersive, compelling tale set in England during 1665 when social status was everything, arranged marriages were commonplace, science was just starting to win the battle against age-old religious theories, and the bubonic plague would once again sweep through and ravage the residents of its cities, towns, and villages.

The prose is expressive and rich. The characters are strong, intelligent, independent, and brave. And the engaging, well-paced plot is a captivating tale of familial drama, heartbreak, loss, love, courage, self-discovery, hope, death, romance, as well as the struggles and limitations of early medicine.

Overall, The Boundary Stone is an atmospheric, intriguing, well-written tale by Halverson that does a beautiful job of highlighting her impressive research and considerable knowledge into seventeenth-century Britain and the natural disasters that plagued it.

This novel is available now.

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

                

 

 

Thank you to Gail Avery Halverson for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Gail Avery Halverson

Award-winning writer, Gail Avery Halverson, is the author of The Boundary Stone, and its sequel, The Skeptical Physick, a historical romance novel set in 1666 England at the time of the Great Fire and the Scientific Revolution. The Boundary Stone is a Chaucer Award Finalist (historical fiction), a Cygnus Award Finalist (speculative fiction), and a Chatelaine Award Winner (historical romantic fiction). The Skeptical Physick is currently long-listed for both the Chatelaine and the Chaucer Awards. Ms. Halverson is also the writer/producer for “Take it From The Top,” (sitcom pilot, Twin One Productions, Inc.), as well as the playwright and composer of musical plays that have been performed for nearly 300,000 children since 2004. Writing for both theater and television, she holds a B.A. in English Literature/Communications from the University of California, Davis, and is currently at work on the third novel in the Stockbridge Series. She lives in Northern California with her husband and son.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.

#BookReview #Excerpt The Dare (Briar U #4) by Elle Kennedy @ElleKennedy @ninabocci #TheDare #BriarU

#BookReview #Excerpt The Dare (Briar U #4) by Elle Kennedy @ElleKennedy @ninabocci #TheDare #BriarU Title: The Dare

Author: Elle Kennedy

Series: Briar U #4

Published by: Elle Kennedy Inc. on Jun. 16, 2020

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 344

Format: eBook, ARC

Source: Elle Kennedy

Book Rating: 9/10

Get ready for another binge-worthy romance from New York Times bestselling author Elle Kennedy!

College was supposed to be my chance to get over my ugly-duckling complex and spread my wings. Instead, I wound up in a sorority full of mean girls. I already have a hard time fitting in, so when my Kappa Chi sisters issue the challenge, I can’t say no.

The dare: seduce the hottest new hockey player in the junior class.

Conor Edwards is a regular at Greek Row parties…and in Greek Row sorority beds. He’s the one you fall for before you learn that guys like him don’t give girls like me a second glance. Except Mr. Popular throws me for a loop—rather than laughing in my face, he does me a solid by letting me take him upstairs to pretend we’re getting busy. 

Even crazier, now he wants to keep pretending. Turns out Conor loves games, and he thinks it’s fun to pull the wool over my frenemies’ eyes. 

But resisting his easy charm and surfer-boy hotness is darn near impossible. Though I’m realizing there’s much more to Conor’s story than his fan club can see.

And the longer this silly ruse goes on, the greater the danger of it all blowing up in my face.


Review:

Lighthearted, charming, and angsty!

The Dare is a sweet, steamy, college romance featuring the intelligent, quiet Taylor who’s finding it harder and harder to keep from falling for her fake boyfriend, and the hot, outgoing Conor who may have finally found the one girl who makes him want more.

The writing is honest and emotive. The characters are warm, kind, and endearing. And the plot is an alluring blend of friendship, family, drama, emotion, attraction, heat, insecurities, self-discovery, happiness, taking chances, awkward moments, college antics, delicious dirty talk, and budding romance.

Overall, The Dare is a witty, passionate, swoon-worthy finale to the Briar U series by Kennedy that will leave fans of New Adult novels delightfully satisfied and wishing for more. 

This novel is available now.

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

         

 

 

EXCERPT:

“Thank you,” she breathes the moment we’re alone.

“No problem. Mind if I make myself comfortable?”

“Um, yeah. I mean, no. I don’t mind. Sit if you want. Or—wow, okay, you’re lying down.”

I grin at her visible nervousness. It’s cute. While I stretch out my six-foot-two frame amid the stuffed animals and decorative pillows on the bed, she remains the startled rabbit plastered against the door and breathing heavily.

“Gotta be honest,” I tell her, entwining my hands behind my head, “I’ve never seen a girl so unhappy to be locked in a bedroom with me.”

This has the desired effect of loosening her shoulders and even eliciting a shy smile. “I have no doubt.”

“I’m Conor, by the way.”

She rolls her eyes. “Yeah, I know.”

“What’s the eyeroll for?” I ask, playing wounded.

“No, sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it. Just, I know who you are. You’re, like, campus famous.”

The more I watch her, hands braced at her sides against the door, one knee bent, dirty-blonde hair a little messy and draped over one shoulder, I can’t help picturing myself holding her arms above her head while I explore her body with my mouth. She’s got very kissable skin.

“Taylor Marsh,” she blurts out, and I realize I don’t know how long we were silent until then.

I scoot to the far side of the bed and put a pillow beside me as a divider. “Come on. If we’re going to be in here awhile, let’s at least make friends.”

Taylor laughs out a breath and with it she releases a bit more tension. She’s got a nice smile. Bright, warm. It takes a bit more coaxing, however, to get her on the bed.

“This isn’t like a move,” she tells me, lining up stuffed animal guards to patrol the pillow wall between us. “I’m not some sort of weirdo who tricks men into getting in bed with her and then mauls them.”

“Sure.” I nod with mock seriousness. “But a little mauling would be okay.”

 

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

 

About Elle Kennedy

A New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, Elle Kennedy grew up in the suburbs of Toronto, Ontario, and holds a B.A. in English from York University. From an early age, she knew she wanted to be a writer, and actively began pursuing that dream when she was a teenager.

Elle currently writes for various publishers. She loves strong heroines and sexy alpha heroes, and just enough heat and danger to keep things interesting!

#BookReview The Boyfriend Project by Farrah Rochon @FarrahRochon @ReadForeverPub @GrandCentralPub #ReadForever #Forever20 #FarrahRochon #TheBoyfriendProject

#BookReview The Boyfriend Project by Farrah Rochon @FarrahRochon @ReadForeverPub @GrandCentralPub #ReadForever #Forever20 #FarrahRochon #TheBoyfriendProject Title: The Boyfriend Project

Author: Farrah Rochon

Published by: Forever on Jun. 9, 2020

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 368

Format: Paperback

Source: Forever

Book Rating: 9/10

USA Today bestselling author Farrah Rochon launches a new series about three young women who become friends when the live Tweeting of a disastrous date leads them to discover they’ve all been duped by the same man.

Samiah Brooks never thought she would be “that” girl. But a live tweet of a horrific date just revealed the painful truth: she’s been catfished by a three-timing jerk of a boyfriend. Suddenly Samiah-along with his two other “girlfriends,” London and Taylor-have gone viral online. Now the three new besties are making a pact to spend the next six months investing in themselves. No men, no dating, and no worrying about their relationship status . . .

For once Samiah is putting herself first, and that includes finally developing the app she’s always dreamed of creating. Which is the exact moment she meets the deliciously sexy, honey-eyed Daniel Collins at work. What are the chances? When it comes to love, there’s no such thing as a coincidence. But is Daniel really boyfriend material or is he maybe just a little too good to be true?


Review:

Clever, humorous, and sassy!

The Boyfriend Project is a flirty, charming rom-com about the hardworking, driven Samiah Brooks who after facing the humiliation of a date who likes to three-time and a lifestyle that caters to a little too much work and not enough play struggles to stick to the no-dating pact she makes with her new friends when the deliciously handsome, sweet but spicy, Daniel Collins starts at her firm.

The prose is witty and sharp. The characters are focused, amusing, and brazen. And the plot is a lighthearted, funny blend of life, love, introspection, friendship, secrets, deception, awkward situations, embarrassing moments, taking chances, and the ups-and-downs of being an intelligent, successful, African-American woman in a high-tech world.

Overall, The Boyfriend Project is a sexy, simmering, entertaining read by Rochon that’s brimming with empowerment, female friendships, and swoon-worthy romance.

 

This book is available now.

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

            

 

 

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

 

About Farrah Rochon

USA Today bestselling author Farrah Rochon hails from a small town just west of New Orleans. She has garnered much acclaim for her Holmes Brothers, New York Sabers, Bayou Dreams and Moments in Maplesville series. When she is not writing in her favorite coffee shop, Farrah spends most of her time reading, cooking, traveling the world, visiting Walt Disney World, and catching her favorite Broadway shows. An admitted sports fanatic, Farrah feeds her addiction to football by watching New Orleans Saints games on Sunday afternoons.

Photography by Tamara Roybiskie.

#BookReview Red Sky Over Hawaii by Sara Ackerman @ackermanbooks @HarlequinBooks @Bookclubbish #HarlequinPublicityTeam #RedSkyOverHawaii

#BookReview Red Sky Over Hawaii by Sara Ackerman @ackermanbooks @HarlequinBooks @Bookclubbish #HarlequinPublicityTeam #RedSkyOverHawaii Title: Red Sky Over Hawaii

Author: Sara Ackerman

Published by: Mira Books on Jun. 9, 2020

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 400

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: Harlequin Books

Book Rating: 9/10

Inspired by real places and events of WWII, Red Sky Over Hawaii immerses the reader in a time of American history full of suspicion and peril in this lush and poignant tale about the indisputable power of doing the right thing against all odds.

The attack on Pearl Harbor changes everything for Lana Hitchcock. Arriving home on the Big Island too late to reconcile with her estranged father, she is left alone to untangle the clues of his legacy, which lead to a secret property tucked away in the remote rain forest of Kilauea volcano. When the government starts taking away her neighbors as suspected sympathizers, Lana shelters two young German girls, a Japanese fisherman and his son. As tensions escalate, they are forced into hiding—only to discover the hideaway house is not what they expected.

When a detainment camp is established nearby, Lana struggles to keep the secrets of those in her care. Trust could have dangerous consequences. As their lives weave together, Lana begins to understand the true meaning of family and how the bonds of love carry us through the worst times.


Review:

Enticing, exotic, and touching!

Red Sky Over Hawaii is a tender, heartwarming tale that sweeps you away to the island of Hawaii in the days, hours, and minutes leading up to Pearl Harbor and the year after and into the life of Lana Hitchcock, a young woman who after losing her father suddenly takes on the responsibility of hiding four individuals whose nationality makes them a target for detainment and internment.

The prose is expressive and lush. The characters are multilayered, troubled, strong, and compassionate. And the plot is an evocative tale of life, loss, love, self-discovery, war, secrets, friendship, determination, survival, romance, and the true meaning of family.

Overall, Red Sky Over Hawaii is a beautifully written, informative, absorbing tale with intriguing characters that I devoured from start to finish. I’m a huge fan of Sara Ackerman’s writing, and this novel didn’t disappoint. If you enjoy well researched WWII novels with a fresh and unique perspective, then I 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 Harlequin Books for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Sara Ackerman

Sara writes books about love and life, and all of their messy and beautiful imperfections. Born and raised in Hawaii, she studied journalism and later earned graduate degrees in psychology and Chinese medicine. She is the author of historical novels Island of Sweet Pies and Soldiers and The Lieutenant's Nurse, with several more in the works. She blames Hawaii for her addiction to writing, and sees no end to its untapped stories. Sara lives on the Big Island with her boyfriend and a houseful of bossy animals.

#BookReview On Ocean Boulevard by Mary Alice Monroe @maryalicemonroe @GalleryBooks @simonschuster #OnOceanBoulevard

#BookReview On Ocean Boulevard by Mary Alice Monroe @maryalicemonroe @GalleryBooks @simonschuster #OnOceanBoulevard Title: On Ocean Boulevard

Author: Mary Alice Monroe

Series: Beach House #6

Published by: Gallery Books on May 19, 2020

Genres: Women's Fiction

Pages: 304

Format: Hardcover

Source: Gallery Books

Book Rating: 9/10

The New York Times bestselling author of The Summer Guests returns at long last to her beloved Beach House series in this breathtaking novel about one family’s summer of forging new beginnings against the enduring beauty and resilience of the natural world.

It’s been sixteen years since Caretta “Cara” Rutledge has returned home to the beautiful shores of Charleston, South Carolina. Over those years, she has weathered the tides of deaths and births, struggles and joys. And now, as Cara prepares for her second wedding, her life is about to change yet again.

Meanwhile, the rest of the storied Rutledge family is also in flux. Cara’s niece Linnea returns to Sullivan’s Island to begin a new career and an unexpected relationship. Linnea’s parents, having survived bankruptcy, pin their hopes and futures on the construction of a new home on Ocean Boulevard. But as excitement over the house and wedding builds, a devastating illness strikes the family and brings plans to a screeching halt. It is under these trying circumstances that the Rutledge family must come together yet again to discover the enduring strength in love, tradition, and legacy from mother to daughter to granddaughter.

Like the sea turtles that come ashore annually on these windswept islands, three generations of the Rutledge family experience a season of return, rebirth, and growth. “Authentic, generous, and heartfelt” (Mary Kay Andrews, New York Timesbestselling author), On Ocean Boulevard is Mary Alice Monroe at her very best.


Review:

Captivating, heartfelt, and sentimental!

On Ocean Boulevard is an enchanting, tender tale that sweeps you away to the idyllic South Carolina Lowcountry and immerses you into the lives of the Rutledge family and all the wounds, secrets, smiles, tears, compassion, strength, and loyalty that surround them.

The writing is fluid and clear. The characters are multi-layered, resilient, and authentic. And the plot, including all the subplots, intertwine and unravel into an optimistic, heartwarming tale about life, love, loss, family, friendship, romance, contentment, plastic pollution, sea turtles, and the importance of environmental conservation.

Overall, On Ocean Boulevard is a big-hearted, insightful, timely, family saga by Monroe that reminds us that life is comprised of not only the lovely, special, wonderful moments but all the complicated, messy, challenging, heartbreaking ones too.

This novel is available now.

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

            

 

 

 

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

 

About Mary Alice Monroe

Mary Alice Monroe is the New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty books, including the Beach House series: The Beach House, Beach House Memories, Swimming Lessons, Beach House for Rent, and Beach House Reunion. She is a 2018 Inductee into the South Carolina Academy of Authors’ Hall of Fame, and her books have received numerous awards, including the 2008 South Carolina Center for the Book Award for Writing, the 2014 South Carolina Award for Literary Excellence, the 2015 SW Florida Author of Distinction Award, the RT Lifetime Achievement Award, the International Book Award for Green Fiction, and the 2017 Southern Book Prize for Fiction. Her bestselling novel The Beach House is also a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie. An active conservationist, she lives in the lowcountry of South Carolina.

Photograph by Mic Smith Photography.

#BookReview #Giveaway Liberation by Imogen Kealey @GrandCentralPub #Liberation #GrandCentralPub

#BookReview #Giveaway Liberation by Imogen Kealey @GrandCentralPub #Liberation #GrandCentralPub Title: Liberation

Author: Imogen Kealey

Published by: Grand Central Publishing on Apr. 28, 2020

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 384

Format: Hardcover

Source: Grand Central Publishing

Book Rating: 9/10

Hero. Soldier. Spy. Leader. Her name is Nancy Wake.

To the Allies, she was a fearless freedom fighter, a special operations legend, a woman ahead of her time. To the Gestapo, she was a ghost, a shadow, the most wanted person in the world.

But at first, Nancy Wake was just another young woman living in Marseilles and recently engaged to a man she loved. Then France fell to the Nazi blitzkrieg. With her appetite for danger, Nancy quickly finds herself drawn into the underground Resistance standing up to Nazi rule. Gaining notoriety as the White Mouse, with a 5-million-franc bounty hanging over her head, Wake rises to the top of the Nazi’s Most Wanted list — only to find her husband arrested for treasonous activity under suspicion of being the White Mouse himself.

Narrowly escaping to Britain, Wake joins the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and parachutes into the Auvergne, where she must fight for the respect of some of the toughest Resistance fighters in France. As she and her maquisards battle the Nazis, their every engagement brings the end of the war closer — but also places her husband in deeper peril.

A riveting, richly imagined historical thriller, LIBERATION brings to life one of World War II’s most fascinating unsung heroines in all her fierce power and complexity. This is the story of one of the one of the war’s most decorated women, told like never before.


Review:

Fascinating, compelling, and inspiring!

Liberation is an intriguing, adventurous interpretation of the life of Nancy Wake, an Australian runaway who became known by the Nazis as the White Mouse after she used the status and money acquired by her marriage to French Industrialist, Henri Fiocca to aid the French resistance and later as a trained SOE office for Britain help them prepare for D-Day.

The prose is vivid and tense. The characters are vulnerable, resourceful, and courageous. And the plot, set in France during the early 1940s, is a moving tale about life, love, bravery, strength, heartbreak, loss, guilt, grief, loyalty, espionage, malice, betrayal, and survival.

Overall, Liberation is a wonderful blend of harrowing facts and engrossing fiction. It is a fast-paced, memorable, thrilling tale that does a lovely job of highlighting humanities ability to be selflessly heroic under even the direst, most horrific of circumstances.

 

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.

 

GIVEAWAY!

 

I’m giving two people a chance to win a copy of Liberation. To enter please visit my Instagram page HERE

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for sponsoring the giveaway! All giveaway information can be found in the Instagram Giveaway Post. Books will be mailed by the publisher to the randomly chosen winners. Good luck!

 

About Imogen Kealey

Imogen Kealey is the pseudonym of American screenwriter Darby Kealey and British novelist Imogen Robertson, who bonded over their desire to tell Wake’s story. Liberation, their first novel as Imogen Kealey, is currently in development as a major motion picture.

#BookReview Sure Shot (Brooklyn #4) by Sarina Bowen @SarinaBowen #SureShot #BrooklynSeries

#BookReview Sure Shot (Brooklyn #4) by Sarina Bowen @SarinaBowen #SureShot #BrooklynSeries Title: Sure Shot

Author: Sarina Bowen

Series: Brooklyn #4

Published by: Tuxbury Publishing LLC on May 12, 2020

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 300

Format: eBook, ARC

Source: Sarina Bowen

Book Rating: 9/10

A new stand-alone hockey romance from USA Today bestseller Sarina Bowen.

On the eve of her thirtieth birthday, successful sports agent Bess Beringer is ready to make some changes. Armed with a five-year plan—indexed and color coded—she’ll tackle a few goals in her personal life.

A big, tall, ripped hunk of hockey player who’s just been traded to the Brooklyn Bruisers is not a part of that five year plan. Mark “Tank” Tankiewicz has a lot of baggage. He’s a ride-or-die loner. He’s on the rebound. He’s also the sexiest thing on two legs, and for some crazy reason it’s Bess that he wants.

She knows better. But then she falls stupid in love with him anyway. And for a while it seems like maybe he’ll do the same.

Until she asks him for the one thing he can never give her…


Review:

Amusing, seductive, and sassy!

Sure Shot is a sweet, playful rom-com featuring the broody, hunky Mark whose life is in turmoil after a recent divorce and the sudden trade to a new team, and the confident, successful Bess who is content and happy with her career but ready for a little more in her personal life.

The writing is light and sultry. The characters, including the supporting characters, are charming, flawed and fun. And the plot is an enchanting, slightly angsty tale filled with smouldering chemistry, sizzling tension, heartfelt emotion, witty banter, friendship, understanding, compromise, communication, delicious romance, and hockey.

Overall, Sure Shot is an alluring, humourous, passionate addition to the Brooklyn series by Bowen that has characters you can’t help but root for and a happy-ever-after ending that leaves you eager for more. 

This novel is available now.

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

     

 

 

 

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

 

About Sarina Bowen

Sarina Bowen is the RITA® Award winning author of over two dozen contemporary and LGTB romance novels. She most recently hit the USA Today bestseller's list in February, with Brooklynaire. Formerly a derivatives trader on Wall Street, Sarina holds a BA in economics from Yale University.

Sarina Bowen is a New Englander whose Vermont ancestors cut timber and farmed the north country since the 1760s. Sarina is grateful for the invention of indoor plumbing and wi-fi during the intervening 250 years. On a few wooded acres, she lives with her husband, two boys, and an ungodly amount of ski and hockey gear.

Sarina's books are published in a dozen languages on four continents. In 2016, The Romance Writers of America honored HIM by Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy with a RITA award for Best Contemporary Romance, Mid-Length.

 

#BookReview The Trouble with Hating You by Sajni Patel @ReadForeverPub @GrandCentralPub #ReadForever #Forever20 #SajniPatel

#BookReview The Trouble with Hating You by Sajni Patel @ReadForeverPub @GrandCentralPub #ReadForever #Forever20 #SajniPatel Title: The Trouble with Hating You

Author: Sajni Patel

Published by: Forever on May 12, 2020

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 352

Format: eBook, ARC

Source: Forever

Book Rating: 9/10

A laugh-out-loud romantic comedy debut about first impressions, second chances, and finding the love of your life in the most unexpected way.

Liya Thakkar is a successful biochemical engineer, takeout enthusiast, and happily single woman. The moment she realizes her parents’ latest dinner party is a setup with the man they want her to marry, she’s out the back door in a flash. Imagine her surprise when the same guy shows up at her office a week later — the new lawyer hired to save her struggling company. What’s not surprising: he’s not too thrilled to see her either after that humiliating fiasco.

Jay Shah looks good on paper…and off. Especially if you like that whole gorgeous, charming lawyer-in-a-good-suit thing. He’s also arrogant and infuriating. As their witty office banter turns into late night chats, Liya starts to think he might be the one man who truly accepts her. But falling for each other means exposing their painful pasts. Will Liya keep running, or will she finally give love a real chance?


Review:

Sassy, emotive, and sweetly romantic!

The Trouble with Hating You is a fresh, heartwarming tale that transports you to Houston, Texas and into the lives of Liya Thakkar, an assertive, independent, Indian-American woman who is more than happy being single and is completely uninterested in any of her parent’s matchmaking abilities, and Jay Shah, a persistent, handsome, young man who takes his family obligations very seriously and is not easily persuaded.

The writing is heartfelt and light. The characters are intelligent, stubborn, vulnerable, and endearing. And the plot is a push-pull tale full of familial responsibility, workplace drama, tender moments, hilarious mishaps, witty banter, goals, expectations, friendship, community, optimism, chemistry, and love.

Overall, The Trouble with Hating You is so much more than a typical rom-com with lots of culture and tradition, weighty, hard-hitting issues, and an enemies-to-lovers romance that skirts it all. It is a fantastic debut for Patel and I can’t wait to read what she comes up with next.

This book is available now.

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

            

 

 

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

 

About Sajni Patel

Sajni Patel was born in vibrant India and raised in the heart of Texas, surrounded by a lot of delicious food and plenty of diversity. She draws on her personal experiences, cultural expectations, and Southern flair to create worlds that center on strong Indian women. Once an MMA fighter, she's now all about puppies and rainbows and tortured love stories. She currently lives in Austin where she not-so-secretly watches Matthew McConaughey from afar during UT football games. Queso is her weakness and thanks to her family's cooking, Indian/Tex-Mex cuisine is a real thing. She's a die-hard Marvel Comics fan, a lover of chocolates from around the world, and is always wrapped up in a story.

Photograph courtesy of Goodreads Author's Page.

#BookReview Hard Cash Valley by Brian Panowich @BPanowich @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #MinotaurInfluencers #HardCashValley

#BookReview Hard Cash Valley by Brian Panowich @BPanowich @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #MinotaurInfluencers #HardCashValley Title: Hard Cash Valley

Author: Brian Panowich

Series: Bull Mountain #3

Published by: Minotaur Books on May 5, 2020

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 304

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: Minotaur Books

Book Rating: 9/10

Return to McFalls County and Bull Mountain in Hard Cash Valley, where Brian Panowich weaves another masterful tale of Southern Noir.

Dane Kirby is a broken man and no stranger to tragedy. As a life-long resident and ex-arson investigator for McFalls County, Dane has lived his life in one of the most chaotic and crime-ridden regions of the south. When he gets called in to consult on a brutal murder in a Jacksonville, Florida, motel room, he and his FBI counterpart, Special Agent Roselita Velasquez, begin an investigation that leads them back to the criminal circles of his own backyard.

Arnie Blackwell’s murder in Jacksonville is only the beginning – and Dane and Roselita seem to be one step behind. For someone is hacking a bloody trail throughout the Southeast looking for Arnie’s younger brother, a boy with Asperger’s Syndrome who possesses an unusual skill with numbers that could make a lot of money and that has already gotten a lot of people killed―and has even more of the deadliest people alive willing to do anything it takes to exploit him.

As Dane joins in the hunt to find the boy, it swiftly becomes a race against the clock that has Dane entangled in a web of secrets involving everyone from the Filipino Mafia to distrusting federal agents to some of hardest southern outlaws he’s ever known.


Review:

Gritty, pacey, and suspenseful!

Hard Cash Valley is a chilling, action-packed thriller that sees GBI consultant, Dane Kirby, working with the FBI when the brutal murder of a man in Florida leads back to McFalls County where bodies begin piling up, a young boy is missing, and The Farm which recently hosted the largest illegal cockfighting match in the US seems to be at the centre of it all.

The prose is precise and crisp. The characters are relentless, callous, and impulsive. And the plot is a fast-paced, riveting tale full of twists, turns, intrigue, action, greed, power, corruption, duplicity, violence, and murder.

Overall, Hard Cash Valley is an edgy, engrossing, sinister tale that highlights just how fine the line between right and wrong truly is and reminds us that messing with the criminal underworld is never a wise decision.

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

 

About Brian Panowich

Brian Panowich is an award winning author, a Georgia firefighter, and a father to four incredible children. His first novel, Bull Mountain, was a Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist, ITW Thriller Award winner for Best First Novel, Southern Book Prize winner, and a finalist for both the Anthony and the Barry Awards. He lives in Georgia with his family.

Photograph by David Kernaghan.

#BookReview They Went Left by Monica Hesse @MonicaHesse @littlebrown @HBGCanada #TheyWentLeft

#BookReview They Went Left by Monica Hesse @MonicaHesse @littlebrown @HBGCanada #TheyWentLeft Title: They Went Left

Author: Monica Hesse

Published by: Little Brown and Company on Apr. 7, 2020

Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult

Pages: 384

Format: Hardcover

Source: HBG Canada

Book Rating: 9/10

Germany, 1945. The soldiers who liberated the Gross-Rosen concentration camp said the war was over, but nothing feels over to eighteen-year-old Zofia Lederman. Her body has barely begun to heal; her mind feels broken. And her life is completely shattered: Three years ago, she and her younger brother, Abek, were the only members of their family to be sent to the right, away from the gas chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Everyone else–her parents, her grandmother, radiant Aunt Maja–they went left.

Zofia’s last words to her brother were a promise: Abek to Zofia, A to Z. When I find you again, we will fill our alphabet. Now her journey to fulfill that vow takes her through Poland and Germany, and into a displaced persons camp where everyone she meets is trying to piece together a future from a painful past: Miriam, desperately searching for the twin she was separated from after they survived medical experimentation. Breine, a former heiress, who now longs only for a simple wedding with her new fiancé. And Josef, who guards his past behind a wall of secrets, and is beautiful and strange and magnetic all at once.

But the deeper Zofia digs, the more impossible her search seems. How can she find one boy in a sea of the missing? In the rubble of a broken continent, Zofia must delve into a mystery whose answers could break her–or help her rebuild her world.


Review:

Heartwrenching, haunting, and hopeful!

They Went Left is a poignant, compelling tale that sweeps you away to post-war Germany and into the life of Zofia Lederman, a young Jewish girl who after being liberated from a Nazi concentration camp and with a mind traumatized by cruelty and violence travels from her home town in Poland to the Foehrenwald Displaced Persons Camp to search for the one family member who may not be lost forever and that she swore to protect, her younger brother, Abek.

The prose is raw and tense. The characters are vulnerable, tortured, and resilient. And the plot is a moving tale about life, love, bravery, strength, loss, deception, hope, survival, and the enduring aftereffects of war.

Overall, They Went Left is a lovely blend of historical facts, realistic fiction, and palpable emotion that does a beautiful job of reminding us that even after suffering the most unimaginable cruelty and wickedness humanity still has an innate ability to want to love and be loved.

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 Monica Hesse

Monica Hesse is the national bestselling author of the true crime love story American Fire, and the historical mystery novel Girl in the Blue Coat, which has been translated into a dozen languages and won the 2017 Edgar award in the Young Adult category. She is a feature writer for the Washington Post, where she has been a winner of the Society for Feature Journalism's Narrative Storytelling award, and a finalist for a Livingston Award and a James Beard Award. Monica lives in Maryland. with her husband and a brainiac dog.

Photography courtesy of Author's Website.