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#BookReview In the Likely Event by Rebecca Yarros @FireflyDist @AmazonPub #IntheLikelyEvent #RebeccaYarros #Montlake #FireflyDist

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#BookReview In the Likely Event by Rebecca Yarros @FireflyDist @AmazonPub #IntheLikelyEvent #RebeccaYarros #Montlake #FireflyDist Title: In the Likely Event

Author: Rebecca Yarros

Published by: Montlake Romance on Aug. 1, 2023

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 348

Format: Paperback

Source: Firefly Distributed Lines

Book Rating: 9/10

When Izzy Astor gets on a plane to go home, she isn’t expecting much. It’s the usual holiday travel experience: busy, crowded, stressful.

Then she spots her seatmate, who is anything but ordinary. Nate Phelan sports dark hair, blue eyes, and a deliciously rugged charm that Izzy can’t resist. Their connection is undeniable. Izzy never believed in destiny before, but she does now.

Just ninety seconds after takeoff, their plane goes down in the Missouri River.

Their lives change. They change. Nate goes on to a career in the military while Izzy finds her way into politics. Despite a few chance encounters over the years, the timing never feels right.

Then comes a high-stakes reunion in Afghanistan, where Nate is tasked with protecting Izzy’s life.

He’ll do anything to keep her safe. And everything to win her heart.

Review:

Romantic, thought-provoking, and absorbing!

In the Likely Event is a poignant, intimate tale that sweeps you away into the life of Izzy Astor and Nate Phelan, two teenagers who, after having an instant connection and surviving a plane crash together, spend the next several years separately following their dreams while fondly anticipating and savouring the few days they sometimes get to spend together until an unexpected meeting on the war-torn streets of Afghanistan has them not only trying to survive but finally confronting the long-buried hurts, secrets, and feelings they’ve built up over the last ten years for each other.

The prose is sentimental and tender. The characters are independent, supportive, and layered. And the plot is a compelling, touching tale of life, love, family, honesty, kindness, communication, acceptance, self-discovery, grief, loss, understanding, forgiveness, romance, taking chances, and new beginnings.

Overall, In the Likely Event is another emotive, thoughtful, beautiful read by Yarros that reminds us that life is complicated and messy, timing is everything, and sometimes, perhaps, things are just truly destined to happen.

 

This book 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 an exchange for an honest review.

 

About Rebecca Yarros

Rebecca Yarros is a hopeless romantic and lover of all things chocolate, coffee, and Paleo. In addition to being a mom, military wife, and blogger, she can never choose between Young Adult and New Adult fiction, so she writes both. She's a graduate of Troy University, where she studied European history and English, but still holds out hope for an acceptance letter to Hogwarts. Her blog, The Only Girl Among Boys, has been voted the Top Military Mom Blog the last two years, and celebrates the complex issues surrounding the military life she adores. When she's not writing, she's tying on hockey skates for her kids, or sneaking in some guitar time. She is madly in love with her army-aviator husband of eleven years, and they're currently stationed in Upstate NY with their gaggle of rambunctious kiddos and snoring English Bulldog, but she would always rather be home in Colorado.

Photo by KATIE MARIE SENIORS

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#BookReview All That We Never Were by Alice Kellen @AliceKellen_ @SourcebooksCasa #AliceKellen #AllThatWeNeverWere #LetItBe #SourcebooksCasa

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#BookReview All That We Never Were by Alice Kellen @AliceKellen_ @SourcebooksCasa #AliceKellen #AllThatWeNeverWere #LetItBe #SourcebooksCasa Title: All That We Never Were

Author: Alice Kellen

Series: Let It Be #1

Published by: Sourcebooks Casablanca on Aug. 29, 2023

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Young Adult

Pages: 448

Format: Paperback

Source: Sourcebooks Casablanca

Book Rating: 8/10

International bestselling author Alice Kellen will flood you in emotion, following two star-crossed lovers whose destiny is inexorably intertwined.

He’ll do anything to bring the light back into her eyes.

19-year-old Leah Jones used to love her life. Now, she can barely get out of bed in the morning. Still shaken by the sudden loss of her parents, her 29-year-old older brother is the only person she has left to keep her from falling into an emotional abyss. But as he prepares to move across the country for work, soon he’ll be gone too, and Leah will have no one. 

Axel Nguyen is her brother’s best friend, and the natural person to turn to. Seeing Leah so despondent is a punch to Axel’s gut. At her brother’s request, Axel drops everything to move Leah in with him, to meet her every need. He’s determined to push her to her limits, to break down the walls she’s built to protect her fragile heart. Little does he know, she has loved him forever, and now his love for her expands to so much more. As Leah and Axel’s undeniable bond grows stronger, Axel must break Leah’s heart in order to guarantee her the life he knows she deserves…

Fans of Colleen Hoover, Anna Todd, and B. Celeste will immerse in this thrill of a heartbreaking emotional rollercoaster.

Review:

Absorbing, romantic, and emotional!

All That We Never Were is an intimate, moving tale that sweeps you away to small-town Australia and into the life of Leah Jones, a nineteen-year-old girl who, after suddenly losing her parents in a tragic car accident, struggles to find any light in her life until her brother heads out of town to work and she is placed under the care of the one man who she’s always had a crush on, her brother’s best friend Axel, who may develop more than platonic feelings of his own while he shares a roof and does whatever he can to bring passion and colour back to her world.

The writing style is heartfelt and smooth. The characters are tormented, fragile, and endearing. And the plot is a rollercoaster ride of life, love, loss, grief, tension, PTSD, comfort, support, family, friendship, and undeniable attraction. 

Overall, All That We Never Were is a touching, immersive, tender start to the Let It Be duology by Kellen that had just the right amount of intensity, angst, romance, and passion to keep me invested from start to finish and a cliffhanger ending that left me more than a little eager to see how this story could possibly end.

 

This novel is available now.

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

       

 

 

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

 

About Alice Kellen

Alice Kellen is an international bestselling author of romantic fiction. She writes stories with universal, crossover themes such as love, friendship, insecurities, losses and longing for a brighter future, connecting with younger and older readers alike. She lives in Valencia, Spain with her family.

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#BookReview The Breakaway by Jennifer Weiner @jenniferweiner @AtriaBooks @SimonSchusterCA #JenniferWeiner #TheBreakaway #SimonSchusterCA

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#BookReview The Breakaway by Jennifer Weiner @jenniferweiner @AtriaBooks @SimonSchusterCA #JenniferWeiner #TheBreakaway #SimonSchusterCA Title: The Breakaway

Author: Jennifer Weiner

Published by: Atria Books on Aug. 29, 2023

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Women's Fiction

Pages: 400

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Weiner comes a warmhearted and empowering new novel about love, family, friendship, secrets, and a life-changing journey.

Thirty-three-year-old Abby Stern has made it to a happy place. True, she still has gig jobs instead of a career, and the apartment where she’s lived since college still looks like she’s just moved in. But she’s got good friends, her bike, and her bicycling club in Philadelphia. She’s at peace with her plus-size body—at least, most of the time—and she’s on track to marry Mark Medoff, her childhood summer sweetheart, a man she met at the weight-loss camp that her perpetually dieting mother forced her to attend. Fifteen years after her final summer at Camp Golden Hills, when Abby reconnects with a half-his-size Mark, it feels like the happy ending she’s always wanted.

Yet Abby can’t escape the feeling that some­thing isn’t right…or the memories of one thrilling night she spent with a man named Sebastian two years previously. When Abby gets a last-minute invi­tation to lead a cycling trip from NYC to Niagara Falls, she’s happy to have time away from Mark, a chance to reflect and make up her mind.

But things get complicated fast. First, Abby spots a familiar face in the group—Sebastian, the one-night stand she thought she’d never see again. Sebastian is a serial dater who lives a hundred miles away. In spite of their undeniable chemistry, Abby is determined to keep her distance. Then there’s a surprise last-minute addition to the her mother, Eileen, the woman Abby blames for a lifetime of body shaming and insecurities she’s still trying to undo.

Over two weeks and more than seven hundred miles, strangers become friends, hidden truths come to light, a teenage girl with a secret unites the riders in unexpected ways…and Abby is forced to reconsider everything she believes about herself, her mother, and the nature of love.

Review:

Humorous, heartwarming, and uplifting!

The Breakaway is a sweet, slow-burning romance that takes us into the life of the hardworking, kind Abby Stern who, after needing a little space before taking the next step with her current boyfriend, Mark, decides to lead a twelve-day bike tour from NYC to Niagara Falls with two unexpected participants among the pack. One a former one-night stand notorious for his playboy lifestyle whom she’s never been able to completely forget, and the other her mother, whom she’s always had a strained complex relationship with due to her lifelong criticism of Abby’s above-average weight.

The writing is sentimental and engaging. The characters are layered, supportive, and endearing. And the plot is a touching tale of family, friendship, self-discovery, happiness, healing, taking chances, growth, revelations, tender moments, light drama, misunderstandings, romance, passion, new beginnings, the importance of body autonomy, and the joy of cycling.

Overall, The Breakaway is another charming, timely, thought-provoking tale by Weiner that has everything I’ve come to know and love about her novels, including a good dose of hope, heart, healing, and humour that always keeps me coming back 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 Simon & Schuster Canada for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Jennifer Weiner

Jennifer Weiner is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of sixteen books, including Good in Bed, In Her Shoes, and, most recently, Mrs. Everything. A graduate of Princeton University and contributor to the New York Times Opinion section, she lives with her family in Philadelphia.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.

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#BookReview Gone Tonight by Sarah Pekkanen @sarahpekkanen @StMartinsPress #GoneTonightNovel #SarahPekkanen #StMartinsPress #SMPInfluencers

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#BookReview Gone Tonight by Sarah Pekkanen @sarahpekkanen @StMartinsPress #GoneTonightNovel #SarahPekkanen #StMartinsPress #SMPInfluencers Title: Gone Tonight

Author: Sarah Pekkanen

Published by: St. Martin's Press on Aug. 1, 2023

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 352

Format: Hardcover

Source: St. Martin's Press

Book Rating: 8.5/10

Catherine Sterling thinks she knows her mother. Ruth Sterling is quiet, hardworking, and lives for her daughter. All her life, it’s been just the two of them against the world. But now, Catherine is ready to spread her wings, move from home, and begin a new career. And Ruth Sterling will do anything to prevent that from happening.

Ruth Sterling thinks she knows her daughter. Catherine would never rebel, would never question anything about her mother’s past or background. But when Ruth’s desperate quest to keep her daughter by her side begins to reveal cracks in Ruth’s carefully-constructed world, both mother and daughter begin a dance of deception.

Review:

Ominous, tense, and clever!

Gone Tonight is a sharp, compulsive, psychological thriller that delves into all the deep, dark secrets people keep even from those closest to them and highlights just how easily people can be emotionally manipulated, controlled, and exploited by those they love.

The writing is crisp and edgy. The characters are distressed, unreliable, and vulnerable. And the plot, told by alternating perspectives, unfolds subtly into a murky tale full of twists, turns, surprises, familial drama, lies, secrets, manipulation, love, dysfunction, wickedness, deception, mental illness, and murder.

Overall, Gone Tonight is a crafty, sinister, engaging tale by Pekkanen that kept me engaged from start to finish and was a fantastic reminder of all the complex bonds and emotional ties that bind mothers and daughters.

 

This novel is available now.

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

         

 

 

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

 

About Sarah Pekkanen

SARAH PEKKANEN is the #1 New York Times bestselling co-author of four novels of suspense including The Golden Couple and The Wife Between Us, and the solo author of the thriller Gone Tonight. A passionate volunteer for rescue animals, she serves as an Ambassador for RRSA India and works hands-on in India to heal and vaccinate street dogs. She lives just outside of Washington, D.C., with her family.

Photo Credit: Kristina Sherk

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#BookReview The Hollywood Jinx by Sariah Wilson @sariahwilson @FireflyDist @AmazonPub #TheHollywoodJinx #SariahWilson #Montlake #FireflyDist

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#BookReview The Hollywood Jinx by Sariah Wilson @sariahwilson @FireflyDist @AmazonPub #TheHollywoodJinx #SariahWilson #Montlake #FireflyDist Title: The Hollywood Jinx

Author: Sariah Wilson

Published by: Montlake Romance on Jul. 25, 2023

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 299

Format: Paperback

Source: Firefly Distributed Lines

Book Rating: 8.5/10

When Hollywood comes to small-town Ohio, the scene is set for an unpredictable romance in a fun and flirty novel by Sariah Wilson, the bestselling author of The Chemistry of Love.

The small town of Patience needs a financial boost. Temporary librarian and aspiring film-score composer Jane Wagner’s plan? Invite movie star Nick Haddon to the town’s harvest festival and stand back for the tourist surge. No one thought he’d say yes—much less that he’d bring a documentary crew to stream his visit.

Given Nick’s affinity for trouble, his reputation and films are tanking. Patience is the perfect stopover on a journey of self-improvement and his chance to put good karma out in the universe. Spending time with a sweet and lovely guide like Jane is a bonus. But Jane’s heartbroken past keeps her on guard against men. Especially when they’re jinxed.

The truth is, Jane’s falling hard. But she can’t ignore the differences between them. He’s famous. She isn’t. He’s here for two weeks. This is her home. Where can it possibly lead? She’ll see. Because day after blissful day, Nick’s encouraging Jane to trust again and, best of all, to dream beyond Patience.

Review:

Romantic, hopeful, and sweet!

The Hollywood Jinx is a heartwarming, sassy tale that takes you to the idyllic town of Patience, Ohio and into the life of the hardworking, kind Jane Wagner as she juggles the renovations of her family-owned B&B, the responsibilities of being the temporary librarian and town mayor, the organization of the town’s much-needed revenue making annual festival, and a growing attraction for a movie star who’s only in town for two weeks.

The prose is smooth and light. The characters, including all the supporting characters, are fun-loving, supportive, and endearing. And the plot is a heartfelt, flirty blend of tricky situations, tender moments, humorous hijinks, self-discovery, new beginnings, friendship, family, happiness, romance, community, and love.

Overall, The Hollywood Jinx is a charming, witty, adorable read by Wilson with characters I couldn’t help but root for and a swoon-worthy ending that left me smitten, satisfied, and already looking forward to reading whatever she comes up with next.

 

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 Sariah Wilson

USA Today bestselling author Sariah Wilson has never jumped out of an airplane, never climbed Mt. Everest, and is not a former CIA operative. She has, however, been madly, passionately in love with her soulmate and is a fervent believer in happily ever afters—which is why she writes romance. She grew up in southern California, graduated from Brigham Young University (go Cougars!) with a semi-useless degree in history, and is the oldest of nine (yes, nine) children . She currently lives with the aforementioned soulmate and their four children in Utah, along with two cats named Pixel and Callie, who do not get along. (The cats, not the children. Although the children sometimes have their issues, too.)

Photo courtesy of Author's Website.

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#BookReview The Ghost Ship by Kate Mosse @KateMosse @PGCBooks #TheGhostShip #KateMosse #TheJoubertFamilyChronicles #PGCBooks

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#BookReview The Ghost Ship by Kate Mosse @KateMosse @PGCBooks #TheGhostShip #KateMosse #TheJoubertFamilyChronicles #PGCBooks Title: The Ghost Ship

Author: Kate Mosse

Series: The Joubert Family Chronicles #3

Published by: Pan Macmillan on Jul. 11, 2023

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 320

Format: Paperback

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 10/10

Piracy. Romance. Revenge. Across the seas of the seventeenth century, two seafarers are forced to fight for their lives. The sequel to The City of Tears, The Ghost Ship is the third novel in The Joubert Family Chronicles from bestselling author Kate Mosse.

The Barbary Coast, 1621. A mysterious vessel floats silently on the water. It is known only as the Ghost Ship. For months it has hunted pirates to liberate those enslaved by corsairs, manned by a courageous crew of mariners from Italy and France, Holland and the Canary Islands.

But the bravest men on board are not who they seem. And the stakes could not be higher. If arrested, they will be hanged for their crimes. Can they survive the journey and escape their fate?

A sweeping and epic love story, ranging from France in 1610 to Amsterdam and the Canary Islands in the 1620s, The Ghost Ship is a thrilling novel of adventure and buccaneering, love and revenge, stolen fortunes and hidden secrets on the high seas.

Review:

Action-packed, alluring, and exceptionally atmospheric!

The Ghost Ship is a rich, informative tale that picks up a few years after The City of Tears left off, sweeping us from France to the Canary Islands in the early 1600s and into the life of the independent, bold Louise Reydon-Joubert who, after dreaming of life on the high seas forever, finally gets her chance when she sets sail on her aunt’s merchant ship the Old Moon with a motley crew, a young Huguenot man accused of murder, and a determination to rid the waters of the Barbary pirates who enjoy nothing more than raping, pillaging and overindulging.

The prose is eloquent and vivid. The characters are stubborn, selfless, and courageous. And the plot is an immersive, fascinating tale of life, loss, love, bravery, survival, tragedy, romance, adventure, religion, politics, war, gender fluidity, sacrifice, revenge, the roles of women in 17th century Europe, and the ins and outs of living on a ship.

Overall, The Ghost Ship is another beautifully written, incredibly enthralling third addition to The Joubert Family Chronicles by Mosse that grabs you from the very first page and does an outstanding job of blending historical facts with fiction that is both enlightening, romantic, and wonderfully compelling.

 

This novel is available now.

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

         

 

 

 

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

 

About Kate Mosse

KATE MOSSE is a multiple New York Times and #1 internationally bestselling author with sales of more than eight million copies in thirty-eight languages. Her previous novels include Labyrinth, Sepulchre, The Winter Ghosts, Citadel, The Taxidermist’s Daughter, and The Burning Chambers. Kate is the founder director of the Women’s Prize for Fiction, a visiting professor at the University of Chichester, and in June 2013, was awarded an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to literature. She divides her time between Chichester in the United Kingdom and Carcassonne in France.

Photo Credit: Ruth Crafer

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#BookReview The Block Party by Jamie Day @StMartinsPress #JamieDay #TheBlockPartyNovel #StMartinsPress #SMPInfluencers

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#BookReview The Block Party by Jamie Day @StMartinsPress #JamieDay #TheBlockPartyNovel #StMartinsPress #SMPInfluencers Title: The Block Party

Author: Jamie Day

Published by: St. Martin's Press on Jul. 18, 2023

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 384

Format: Hardcover

Source: St. Martin's Press

Book Rating: 8/10

This summer, meet your neighbors.

The residents of the exclusive cul-de-sac on Alton Road are entangled in a web of secrets and scandal utterly unknown to the outside world, and even to each other.

On the night of the annual Summer block party, there has been a murder.

But, who did it and why takes readers back one year earlier, as rivalries and betrayals unfold—discovering that the real danger lies within their own block and nothing—and no one—is ever as it seems.

Review:

Suspenseful, relentless, and tight!

The Block Party is a tempestuous, edgy domestic thriller that takes us to the affluent Alton Road, where financial woes are hidden, drama is high, marriages are in trouble, lives are messily intertwined, and by the end of this year’s annual Memorial Day party at least one resident won’t be alive.

The prose is brisk and sharp. The characters are self-absorbed, deceptive, and intrusive. And the plot, using a present/past style, is a juicy tale filled with secrets, deception, scandal, tragedy, infidelity, suspicions, revelations, mayhem, fractured relationships, inappropriate behaviours, substance abuse, jealousy, and murder.

Overall, The Block Party is a dark, twisty, compelling page-turner by Day that delves into the intricate and dynamic bonds that can exist between residents of tight-knit communities and has just the right amount of pace, mood, atmosphere, and surprises to keep you guessing until the very last page.

 

This novel is available now.

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

         

 

 

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

 

About Jamie Day

Jamie Day lives in one of those picture-perfect, coastal New England towns you see in the movies. And just like the movies, Jamie has two children and an adorable dog to fawn over. When not writing or reading, Jamie enjoys yoga, the ocean, cooking, and long walks on the beach with the dog, or the kids, or sometimes both.

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#BookReview Little Souls by Sandra Dallas @StMartinsPress #LittleSoulsBook #SandraDallas #StMartinsPress #SMPInfluencers

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#BookReview Little Souls by Sandra Dallas @StMartinsPress #LittleSoulsBook #SandraDallas #StMartinsPress #SMPInfluencers Title: Little Souls

Author: Sandra Dallas

Published by: St. Martin's Press on Aug. 22, 2023

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 304

Format: Paperback

Source: St. Martin's Press

Book Rating: 8/10

Sandra Dallas’s Little Souls is a gripping tale of sisterhood, loyalty, and secrets set in Denver amid America’s last deadly flu pandemic.

Colorado, 1918. World War I is raging overseas, but it’s the home front battling for survival. With the Spanish Flu rampant, Denver’s schools are converted into hospitals, churches and funeral homes are closed, and horse-drawn wagons collect corpses left in the street. Sisters Helen and Lutie have moved to Denver from Iowa after their parents’ deaths. Helen, a nurse, and Lutie, a carefree advertising designer at a fashionable women’s store share a small, neat house, and each finds a local beau―for Helen a doctor, for Lutie a young student who soon enlists. They make a modest income from a rental apartment in the basement. When their tenant dies from the flu, the sisters are thrust into caring for the woman’s small daughter, Dorothy. Soon after, Lutie comes home from work and discovers a dead man on their kitchen floor and Helen standing above the body, an icepick in hand. She has no doubt Helen killed the man―Dorothy’s father―in self-defense, but she knows that will be hard to prove. They decide to leave the body in the street, hoping to disguise it as a flu victim.

Meanwhile Lutie also worries about her fiancé “over there.” As it happens, his wealthy mother harbors a secret of her own and helps the sisters as the danger deepens, from both the murder investigation and the outbreak.

Set against the backdrop of an epidemic that feels all too familiar, Little Souls is a compelling tale of sisterhood and of the sacrifices people make to protect those they love most.

Review:

Immersive, tragic, and hopeful!

Little Souls is an alluring tale set in Denver during 1918 that takes you into the lives of two sisters, Lutie, a young fashion illustrator and Helen, a hardworking nurse whose lives are unimaginably changed forever when they decide to take in and protect their renter’s ten-year-old daughter Dorothy from an abusive father all while dealing first-hand with devastating losses both from the great war and the ravaging Spanish flu.

The prose is vivid and smooth. The characters are kind, dependable, and resilient. And the plot is a moving tale of life, loss, heartbreak, abuse, determination, hope, loyalty, tragedy, secrets, survival, friendship, love, war, and the sacrifices of life during an influenza pandemic.

Overall, Little Souls is a rich, informative, uplifting tale by Dallas that does an exceptional job of highlighting the special bonds that exist between sisters while reminding us of the incredible impact the great war and the influenza of 1918 had on the people whose lives it touched both at home and away.

 

This novel is now available in paperback.

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

         

 

 

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

 

About Sandra Dallas

Sandra Dallas, dubbed “a quintessential American voice” in Vogue Magazine, is the author of over a dozen novels, including Prayers for Sale and Tallgrass, many translated into a dozen languages and optioned for films. Six-time winner of the Willa Award and four-time winner of the Spur Award, Dallas was a Business Week reporter for 25 years covering the Rocky Mountain region, and began writing fiction in 1990. She has two daughters and lives with her husband in Denver and Georgetown, Colorado.

Photo Credit: Povy Kendal Atchison.

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#BookReview Through the Snow Globe by Annie Rains @AnnieRainsBooks @KayePublicity #KayePublicity #AnnieRains #ThroughTheSnowGlobe #HolidayReads #WomensFiction

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#BookReview Through the Snow Globe by Annie Rains @AnnieRainsBooks @KayePublicity #KayePublicity #AnnieRains #ThroughTheSnowGlobe #HolidayReads #WomensFiction Title: Through the Snow Globe

Author: Annie Rains

Published by: Kensington on Aug. 22, 2023

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Women's Fiction

Pages: 352

Format: Paperback

Source: Kaye Publicity

Book Rating: 8.5/10

It’s a Wonderful Life meets Groundhog Day, as a woman dangerously close to losing it all receives an unexpected Christmas gift that prompts a surprising journey of self-discovery… and another chance at happiness.

What if you could have one more day with someone you lost?

Diana Merriman, a physical therapist, is probably the only person in the small town of Snow Haven, North Carolina, who isn’t looking forward to Christmas. It’s been three weeks since her fiancé Linus was critically injured when a car hit him as he biked home from the toy store he owns and manages. Watching him open his eyes is the only gift she wants, but she can’t help losing a little more hope every day.

But an unexpected visit from a friendly neighbor and finding a snow globe of Snow Haven—a gift Linus had hidden in the closet—the night before Christmas Eve changes things in ways Diana never would have imagined. Because on Christmas Eve Diana wakes up to find that it’s not—Christmas Eve, that is. Instead, it’s somehow December 4 all over again, the day Linus got hurt, and as mystified as Diana is, she immediately starts a plan to save her partner from his fate.

Nothing is that simple, of course. Instead of a single repeat of that day, Diana finds herself in an endless loop of December 4, experiencing every possible variation of events. Along the way, she uncovers startling truths about herself, her relationship, and even her career that illustrate the ways she’s retreated from her life—and in the face of life’s slights and outright blows, from her deepest feelings. Suddenly hope is second only to joy as Diana opens her heart to the people she loves in every way she can.

Review:

Thought-provoking, optimistic, and creative!

Through the Snow Globe is a moving, time-loop tale that takes you into the life of Diana, as after a tragic day when everything seems to go wrong, patients get injured, feelings are hurt, dreams of a promotion are shattered, and her beloved fiancé is involved in an accident that leaves him fighting for his life, fate magically intervenes twenty-one days later on Christmas Eve when she discovers a present hidden by Linus that once enchanted allows her to relive December 4 over and over again to try and change, grow, reshape relationships, strengthen friendships, and recognize what’s truly important.

The writing is sensitive and sincere. The characters are flawed, genuine, and weary. 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, Through the Snow Globe is an emotional, pensive, heartwarming tale by Rains 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 book is available now.

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

        

 

 

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

 

About Annie Rains

Annie Rains is a USA Today bestselling contemporary romance author who writes small town love stories set in fictional places in her home state of North Carolina. When Annie isn’t writing, she’s living out her own happily ever after with her husband and three children.Annie Rains is a USA Today bestselling contemporary romance author who writes small town love stories set in fictional places in her home state of North Carolina. When Annie isn’t writing, she’s living out her own happily ever after with her husband and three children.

Photograph courtesy of Read-Forever Website.

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#BookReview The Trade Off by Sandie Jones @realsandiejones @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #SandieJones #TheTradeOffBook #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers

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#BookReview The Trade Off by Sandie Jones @realsandiejones @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #SandieJones #TheTradeOffBook #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers Title: The Trade Off

Author: Sandie Jones

Published by: Minotaur Books on Aug. 15, 2023

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 304

Format: ARC, eBook

Source: St. Martin's Press

Book Rating: 7.5/10

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Reese’s Book Club Pick The Other Woman comes The Trade Off, an electrifying new novel of suspense that begs the Would you tell a story, if you knew it was a lie? Or tell the truth and sleep at night?

For Stella, deputy editor of The Globe, the choice has always been clear. It doesn’t matter how low she has to stoop―getting the best story is what she’s built her reputation on.

For Jess, The Globe ’s rookie reporter, the story stops when the truth does. But she knows that the dirty tricks of the tabloids will be hard to overturn.

And when a celebrity is hounded by The Globe and pays the ultimate price, Jess wonders just how much Stella and the paper are responsible.

Determined to show the world what the tabloid is capable of, Jess will do whatever it takes to uncover the truth, but she needs to watch her back, because someone else is prepared to kill to bury it.

RISK or REWARD. JUSTICE or REVENGE. INNOCENCE or GUILT.

Review:

Intricate, crafty, and suspenseful!

The Trade Off is an engrossing, ominous tale that transports you into the lives of two main characters, Stella, the deputy editor of The Globe who will do whatever it takes to get the story, and Jess, the new rookie reporter who believes that the only story that should be printed is the truth, especially when that story can lead to devastating consequences.

The prose is tight and tense. The characters are secretive, ruthless, and driven. And the plot unravels quickly into a gripping tale full of twists, turns, lies, deception, power, abuse, corruption, greed, indulgence, revelations, ambition, and violence.

Overall, The Trade Off is a sinister, entertaining, intense thriller by Jones that explores the ethical and moral fine line between right and wrong. And even though it isn’t my favourite novel by this author, it does do a wonderful job of combining the morally questionable, somewhat sleazy atmosphere of tabloid journalism with unsavoury characters, poor choices, and eerie motivations.

 

This novel is available now.

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

         

 

 

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

 

About Sandie Jones

SANDIE JONES has worked as a freelance journalist for more than twenty years and has written for publications including The Sunday Times, Woman’s Weekly, and Hello magazine. She lives in Lon-don with her husband and three children. She is the author of The Other Woman, a Reese’s Book Club x Hello Sunshine pick, as well as The First Mistake and The Half Sister. The Guilt Trip is her fourth novel.

Photo by Harriet Buckingham.

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