#BookReview The Secrets of Flowers by Sally Page @BlackstoneAudio #SallyPage #TheSecretsOfFlowers #BlackstonePublishing #BlackstoneInsiders

#BookReview The Secrets of Flowers by Sally Page @BlackstoneAudio #SallyPage #TheSecretsOfFlowers #BlackstonePublishing #BlackstoneInsiders Title: The Secrets of Flowers

Author: Sally Page

Published by: Blackstone Publishing on Feb. 25, 2025

Genres: Historical Fiction, Women's Fiction

Pages: 400

Format: Hardcover

Source: Blackstone Publishing

Book Rating: 8.5/10

From the author of the phenomenal bestsellers The Keeper of Stories and The Book of Beginnings comes an utterly beautiful and uplifting novel.

One year on from the death of her husband, Emma feels no closer to moving forward with her life. Seeking distraction, she quits her job and begins working at the local garden centre.

Here, Emma begins to open up and finds herself attending boss Les’ talk on the Titanic. Intrigued, Emma sets out to research who would have arranged the flowers on-board.

Alongside her story unfolds the tale of a stewardess on the Titanic, who Emma can’t help but feel connected to…

With an array of inspiring and heart-warming characters, this is a novel of friendship, unexpected connections, and of hope.


Review:

Captivating, rich, and absorbing!

The Secrets of Flowers is predominately set in England during the early 1900s, as well as present day, and is told from two different perspectives. Emma, a grieving widow who endeavours to discover everything she can about the person responsible for arranging the flowers on the Titanic, and Violet, a young woman whose life takes an unexpected twist when she becomes a stewardess on one of the most famous ocean liners ever.

The prose is eloquent and expressive. The characters are troubled, determined, and endearing. And the plot is a moving tale about life, love, loss, emotion, betrayal, family, friendship, heartbreak, guilt, grief, hope, and regret.

Overall, The Secrets of Flowers is a heartwarming, alluring, compelling tale by Page that highlights the beauty and power of flowers and is a wonderful choice for anyone who enjoys a dual timeline story with both a sliver of mystery and a touch of romance.

 

This novel is available now.

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

 

About Sally Page

After studying history at university, Sally moved to London to work in advertising. However, in her spare time she studied floristry at night school and eventually opened her own flower shop. She soon came to appreciate that flower shops offer a unique window into people’s stories and eventually she began to photograph and write about this floral life in a series of non-fiction books. Later, she continued her interest in writing when she founded her fountain pen company, Plooms.co.uk.

In her debut novel, The Keeper of Stories, Sally combines her love of history and writing with her abiding interest in the stories people have to tell. Sally now lives in Dorset. Her eldest daughter, Alex, is studying to be a doctor and her youngest daughter is the author, Libby Page.

#BookReview Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry @BerkleyRomance @PenguinRandomCA #GreatBigBeautifulLife #EmilyHenry #Berkley #BerkleyPartner #PenguinReads

#BookReview Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry @BerkleyRomance @PenguinRandomCA #GreatBigBeautifulLife #EmilyHenry #Berkley #BerkleyPartner #PenguinReads Title: Great Big Beautiful Life

Author: Emily Henry

Published by: Berkley on Apr. 22, 2025

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 384

Format: ARC, eBook

Source: Berkley Publishing

Book Rating: 9/10

Alice Scott is an eternal optimist still dreaming of her big writing break. Hayden Anderson is a Pulitzer-prize winning human thundercloud. And they’re both on balmy Little Crescent Island for the same reason: To write the biography of a woman no one has seen in years–or at least to meet with the octogenarian who claims to be the Margaret Ives. Tragic heiress, former tabloid princess, and daughter of one of the most storied (and scandalous) families of the 20th Century.

When Margaret invites them both for a one-month trial period, after which she’ll choose the person who’ll tell her story, there are three things keeping Alice’s head in the game.

One: Alice genuinely likes people, which means people usually like Alice—and she has a whole month to win the legendary woman over.

Two: She’s ready for this job and the chance to impress her perennially unimpressed family with a Serious Publication

Three: Hayden Anderson, who should have no reason to be concerned about losing this book, is glowering at her in a shaken-to-the core way that suggests he sees her as competition.

But the problem is, Margaret is only giving each of them pieces of her story. Pieces they can’t swap to put together because of an ironclad NDA and an inconvenient yearning pulsing between them every time they’re in the same room.

And it’s becoming abundantly clear that their story—just like the tale Margaret’s spinning—could be a mystery, tragedy, or love ballad…depending on who’s telling it.


Review:

Addictive, charming, and fun!

Great Big Beautiful Life is an amusing, feel-good romance that takes you into the lives of both Alice Scott, a young aspiring novelist who is determined to finally get her big break writing the biography of the infamous Margaret Ives, and the broody, handsome Hayden Anderson who has the career of his dreams and is looking to write one more successful book until he’s required to compete for the job against a woman who may finally challenge his long-standing views on life and love.

The writing is light and tender. The characters are supportive, intelligent, and kind. And the plot is an entertaining, alluring mix of life, love, family, friendship, guilt, trust, regrets, happiness, self-reflection, tricky moments, undeniable attraction, surprising revelations, and romance.

Overall, Great Big Beautiful Life is another enchanting, optimistic, delightful tale by Henry that is the perfect blend of heart, hope, humour, and heat and is undoubtedly one of the must-read novels for summer 2025.

 

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 Emily Henry

Emily Henry is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of People We Meet on Vacation and Beach Read. She studied creative writing at Hope College, and now spends most of her time in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the part of Kentucky just beneath it.

Photo by Devyn Glista/St. Blanc Studios.

#BookReview 33 Place Brugmann by Alice Austen @PGCBooks @groveatlantic #33PlaceBrugmann #AliceAusten #PGCBooks

#BookReview 33 Place Brugmann by Alice Austen @PGCBooks @groveatlantic #33PlaceBrugmann #AliceAusten #PGCBooks Title: 33 Place Brugmann

Author: Alice Austen

Published by: Grove Press on Mar. 21, 2025

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 368

Format: Hardcover

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

On the eve of the occupation, in the heart of Brussels, life for the residents of eight apartments at 33 Place Brugmann is about to change forever.

Art student Charlotte Sauvin, daughter of a prominent architect in apartment 4L, knows all the details of the building and its people: how light falls and voices echo, the distinct knock of her dearest friend, Julian Raphaël, the eldest son of an art collector’s family across the hall in 4R. But all that’s familiar for Charlotte and the other residents of 33 starts to fracture as whispers of Nazi occupation become reality. The Raphaëls disappear—becoming refugees, nurses, soldiers, reluctant heroes. Masha, the seamstress on the 5th floor, deepens a dangerous affair with a wartime compatriot of Colonel Warlemont in 3R, a man far less feckless than he’d have his neighbors believe. In the face of a perilous new reality, every member of this accidental community will discover they are not the person they believed themselves to be. When confronted with a cruel choice—submit to the regime or risk their lives to resist—each discovers the truth about what, and who, matters to them the most.

33 Place Brugmann is a deeply empathetic and disarmingly hopeful tour-de-force about love, courage, and the role of art in a time of threat


Review:

Poignant, immersive, and compelling!

33 Place Brugmann is a rich, intriguing tale set in Brussels during WWII that takes you into the complex lives of about a dozen residents of one apartment building as they endeavour to navigate wartime living, the arrival of the Nazis, and one prominent Jewish family vanishing one night without a trace.

The prose is polished and evocative. The characters are feisty, multilayered, and resilient. And the plot, including all the subplots, intertwine and unravel into a moving tale of life, loss, heartbreak, betrayal, secrets, danger, survival, tragedy, friendship, and love.

Overall, 33 Place Brugmann is Austen’s colourful, absorbing, evocative debut that transports you to another time and place and immerses you so thoroughly in the feelings, lives, and personalities of the characters you can’t help but be fully invested.

 

This book is available now.

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

 

About Alice Austen

Alice Austen won the John Cassavetes Award for her debut film Give Me Liberty (writer/producer). She is a past resident of the Royal Court Theatre and her internationally produced plays include Animal Farm (Steppenwolf Theatre), Water, Cherry Orchard Massacre, and Girls in the Boat (Dramatic Publishing). She studied creative writing under Seamus Heaney at Harvard, where she received her JD, after which she moved to Brussels and lived on Place Brugmann. Austen currently lives in Milwaukee and is working on a new film and her next novel.

#BookReview One Death at a Time by Abbi Waxman @BerkleyRomance @PenguinRandomCA #OneDeathAtATime #AbbiWaxman #Berkley #BerkleyPartner #PenguinReads

#BookReview One Death at a Time by Abbi Waxman @BerkleyRomance @PenguinRandomCA #OneDeathAtATime #AbbiWaxman #Berkley #BerkleyPartner #PenguinReads Title: One Death at a Time

Author: Abbi Waxman

Published by: Berkley on Apr. 15, 2025

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 400

Format: Paperback

Source: Berkley Publishing

Book Rating: 8/10

A cranky former actress teams up with her Gen Z sobriety sponsor to solve the murder that threatens to send her back to prison in this dazzling new mystery novel from the USA Todaybestselling author of The Bookish Life of Nina Hill.

When Julia Mann, a bad-tempered ex-actress and professional thorn in the side of authority, runs into Natasha Mason at an AA meeting, it’s anything but a meet-cute. Julia just found a dead body in her swimming pool, and the cops say she did it (she already went to jail for murder once, so now they think she’s making a habit of it). Mason is eager to clear Julia’s name and help keep her sober, but all Julia wants is for Mason to leave her alone.

As their investigation ranges from the Hollywood Hills to the world of burlesque to the country clubs of Palm Springs, this unconventional team realizes their shared love of sarcasm and poor life choices are proving to be a powerful combination. Will secrets from their past trip them up, or will their team of showgirls, cat burglars, and Hollywood agents help them stay one step ahead? Are dead piranhas, false noses, and a giant martini glass important clues or simply your typical day in Los Angeles? And will they manage to solve the crime before they kill each other, or worse, fall off the wagon? Trying to keep it simple and take it easy is one thing—trying to find a murderer before they kill again is a whole other program.


Review:

Atmospheric, witty, and entertaining!

One Death at a Time is a charming, captivating tale that transports you to the Hollywood Hills and into the life of Julia Mann, a formerly successful actress turned lawyer who, after the body of one of her previous co-workers, now enemy winds up dead in her pool, finds herself, with the help of a handful of people, doing whatever she can to prove her innocence so she doesn’t wind up an inmate once again for a crime she didn’t commit.

The writing style is humorous and light. The characters are sharp, quirky, and impulsive. And the plot is a pacey whodunit full of friendship, danger, oddball situations, red herrings, amateur sleuthing, lies, secrets, deception, deduction, attraction, revelations, the cutthroat work of movie making, and new beginnings.

Overall, One Death at a Time is a mysterious, amusing, satisfying treat by Waxman that had just the right amount of suspicious personalities, zany antics, and an abundance of drama to keep me engaged from start to finish.

 

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 Abbi Waxman

Abbi Waxman is the USA Today bestselling author of Christa Comes Out of Her Shell, Adult Assembly Required, I Was Told It Would Get Easier, The Bookish Life of Nina Hill, Other People’s Houses, and The Garden of Small Beginnings. She lives in Los Angeles, California, with her three children.

Photo by Photo by Dina Waxman

#BookReview The Sideways Life of Denny Voss by Holly Kennedy @FireflyDist @AmazonPub #TheSidewaysLifeOfDennyVoss #HollyKennedy #LakeUnion #FireflyDist

#BookReview The Sideways Life of Denny Voss by Holly Kennedy @FireflyDist @AmazonPub #TheSidewaysLifeOfDennyVoss #HollyKennedy #LakeUnion #FireflyDist Title: The Sideways Life of Denny Voss

Author: Holly Kennedy

Published by: Lake Union Publishing on Apr. 8, 2025

Genres: General Fiction, Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 330

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Firefly Distributed Lines

Book Rating: 10/10

In this poignant and funny novel, a man who is defined by his limitations sets out to fight a murder charge—and discovers unexpected truths about himself, his family, and the world at large.

On the surface, Denny Voss’s life in rural Minnesota is a quiet one. At thirty years old, he lives at home with his elderly mother and his beloved blind and deaf Saint Bernard, George. He cleans up roadkill to help pay the bills. Though his prospects are limited by a developmental delay—the result of an accident at birth—Denny has always felt that he has “a good life.”

So how did he wind up being charged with the murder of a mayoral candidate—after crashing a sled full of guns into a tree?

As Denny awaits trial, his court-appointed therapist walks him through the events of the past year. Denny’s had other scuffles with the law, the first for kidnapping a neighbor’s cantankerous goose. And then there was the time he accidentally assisted in a bank robbery. It seems like whenever Denny tries to do the right thing, chaos ensues.

Untangling the events around the murder reveals even more painful truths about his family’s past. He’s always been surrounded by people who love him, but now it’s up to Denny to set his life on a new course.


Review:

Memorable, sincere, and humorous!

The Sideways Life of Denny Voss is an intimate, thought-provoking novel that immerses you into the life of Denny Voss, a thirty-year-old man with intellectual difficulties who, through his genuine, innocent desire to always do the right thing, triggers an unravelling of family secrets when he ends up in jail after he’s found in possession of a murder weapon.

The prose is evocative and sincere. The characters are multi-layered, unique, and vulnerable. And the plot is a touching tale of life, love, friendship, desires, needs, dreams, goals, community, complex relationships, family drama, and secrets.

Overall, The Sideways Life of Denny Voss is a beautiful mix of hope, heart, and healing that is not only a lovely, funny, tender novel by Kennedy but one which I don’t think anyone could possibly read and not be completely absorbed and exceptionally moved.

 

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 Holly Kennedy

Holly was born and raised in Alberta, Canada. Today, she lives in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains with her family and their Newfoundland dog, Wallace.​​

She is the author of four novels and her books have been translated into multiple languages. When she’s not writing, you’ll typically find her reading, spending time with family, or (her not-so-secret obsession) watching true crime TV shows like Dateline

#BookReview Strangers in Time by David Baldacci @davidbaldacci @GrandCentralPub #DavidBaldacci #StrangersInTime #GCPInsider

#BookReview Strangers in Time by David Baldacci @davidbaldacci @GrandCentralPub #DavidBaldacci #StrangersInTime #GCPInsider Title: Strangers in Time

Author: David Baldacci

Published by: Grand Central Publishing on Apr. 15, 2025

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 448

Format: Hardcover

Source: Grand Central Publishing

Book Rating: 9/10

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Calamity of Souls comes David Baldacci’s newest novel, set in London in 1944, about a bereaved bookshop owner and two teenagers scarred by the Second World War, and the healing and hope they find in one another. 

Fourteen-year-old Charlie Matters is up to no good, but for a very good reason. Without parents, peerage, or merit, he steals what he needs, living day-to-day until he’s old enough to enlist to fight the Germans. After barely surviving the Blitz, Charlie knows there’s no telling when a falling bomb might end his life. 

Fifteen-year-old Molly Wakefield has just returned to a nearly unrecognizable London. One of millions of children to have been evacuated to the countryside Molly has been away from her home for nearly five years. Her return, however, is not the homecoming she’d hoped for as she’s confronted by a devastating reality: neither of her parents are there. 

Without guardians and stability, Charlie and Molly find an unexpected ally and protector in Ignatius Oliver, and solace at his bookshop, The Book Keep. Mourning the recent loss of his wife, Ignatius forms a kinship with both children, and in each other they rediscover the spirit of family each has lost. 

But Charlie’s escapades in the city have not gone unnoticed, and someone’s been following Molly since she returned to London. And Ignatius is harboring his own secrets, which could have terrible consequences for all of them. 

As bombs continue to bear down on the city, Charlie, Molly, and Ignatius learn that while the perils of war rage on, their coming together and trusting one another may be the only way for them to survive. 


Review:

Moving, captivating, and beautifully written!

Strangers in Time is an emotionally-charged, absorbing tale that sweeps you away to London during WWII and into the lives of three main characters, Charlie Matters, Molly Wakefield, and Ignatius Oliver, as their worlds intertwine and collide due to the savagery of war causing unlikely friendships to be forged, loyalties to be questioned, extreme losses to be endured, heartache to be inevitable, and the meaning of home to be irrevocably changed forever.

The prose is vivid and expressive. The characters are scarred, vulnerable, and strong. And the plot is a compelling, poignant tale about life, loss, friendship, heartbreak, guilt, grief, courage, hope, war, regret, survival, and love.

Overall, Strangers in Time is the perfect blend of historical facts, evocative fiction, and palpable emotion. It’s a bittersweet, affecting, tender tale that, ultimately, reminds us that to love and be loved is truly one of humanity’s most fundamental needs.

 

This book is available now.

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

             

 

 

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

 

About David Baldacci

David Baldacci is a global #1 bestselling author, and one of the world’s favorite storytellers. His books are published in over 45 languages and in more than 80 countries, with over 130 million worldwide sales. His works have been adapted for both feature film and television. David Baldacci is also the cofounder, along with his wife, of the Wish You Well Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting literacy efforts across America. Still a resident of his native Virginia, he invites you to visit him at DavidBaldacci.com and his foundation at WishYouWellFoundation.org.

Photograph by Allen Jones.

#BookReview Who Will Remember by C. S. Harris @BerkleyPub @PenguinRandomCA #WhoWillRemember #SebastianStCyrSeries #CSHarris #Berkley #BerkleyPartner #PenguinReads

#BookReview Who Will Remember by C. S. Harris @BerkleyPub @PenguinRandomCA #WhoWillRemember #SebastianStCyrSeries #CSHarris #Berkley #BerkleyPartner #PenguinReads Title: Who Will Remember

Author: C. S. Harris

Series: Sebastian St. Cyr #20

Published by: Berkley on Apr. 15, 2025

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 384

Format: Hardcover

Source: Berkley Publishing

Book Rating: 8.5/10

The gruesome murder of a prominent nobleman throws an already unsettled London into chaos in this electrifying new historical mystery by the USA Today bestselling author of What Cannot Be Said.

August 1816. England is in the grip of what will become known as the Year Without a Summer. Facing the twin crises of a harvest-destroying volcanic winter and the economic disruption caused by the end of the Napoleonic Wars, the British monarchy finds itself haunted by the looming threat of bloody riots not seen since the earliest days of the French Revolution. Amidst the turmoil, a dead man is found hanging upside down by one leg in an abandoned chapel, his hands tied behind his back. The pose eerily echoes the image depicted on a tarot card known as Le Pendu, the Hanged Man. The victim—Lord Preston Farnsworth, the younger brother of one of the Regent’s boon companions—was a passionate crusader against what he called the forces of darkness, namely criminality, immorality, and sloth. His brutal murder shocks the Palace and panics the already troubled populace.

Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, learns of the murder from a ragged orphan who leads him to the corpse and then disappears. At first, everyone in the dead man’s orbit paints Lord Preston as a selfless saint. But as Sebastian delves deeper into his life, he quickly realizes that the man had accumulated more than his fair share of enemies, including Major Hugh Chandler, a close friend who once saved Sebastian’s life. Sebastian also discovers that the pious Lord Preston may have been much more dangerous than those he sought to redeem.

As dark clouds press down on the city and the rains fall unceasingly, two more victims are found, one strangled and one shot, with ominous tarot cards placed on their bodies. The killer is sending a gruesome message and Sebastian is running out of time to decipher it before more lives are lost and a fraught post-war London explodes.


Review:

Ominous, rich, and gritty!

Who Will Remember is an eerie, sinister, absorbing tale set in London during 1816 when the city is ravished with economic instability and political upheaval, and Sebastian St. Cyr and his wife Hero now find themselves investigating a strange case involving a set of murders in which the victims are found posed in the same positions as the depictions on the tarot cards left with the bodies.

The prose is meticulous and tight. The characters are sharp, reliable, and resourceful. And the plot is a menacing tale about life, loss, secrets, deception, danger, control, power, politics, lawless behaviour, violence, and murder.

Overall, Who Will Remember is another dark, intense, intriguing addition to the Sebastian St. Cyr series by Harris that does a wonderful job of interweaving historical times and compelling fiction into a suspenseful mystery that is deliciously atmospheric and disturbingly entertaining.

 

This novel is available now.

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

         

 

 

Thank you to Berkley for this free copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About C. S. Harris

C. S. Harris is the USA Today bestselling author of more than two dozen novels, including the Sebastian St. Cyr Mysteries; as C. S. Graham, a thriller series coauthored with former intelligence officer Steven Harris; and seven award-winning historical romances written under the name Candice Proctor. A respected scholar with a PhD in nineteenth-century Europe, she is also the author of a nonfiction historical study of the French Revolution. She lives with her husband in New Orleans and has two grown daughters.

#BookReview The Boy from the Sea by Garrett Carr @PGCBooks @picadorbooks #TheBoyFromTheSea #GarrettCarr #PGCBooks

#BookReview The Boy from the Sea by Garrett Carr @PGCBooks @picadorbooks #TheBoyFromTheSea #GarrettCarr #PGCBooks Title: The Boy from the Sea

Author: Garrett Carr

Published by: Picador on Feb. 6, 2025

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 336

Format: Hardcover

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

1973. In a close-knit community on Ireland’s west coast, a baby is found abandoned on the beach. Named Brendan Bonnar by Ambrose, the fisherman who adopts him, Brendan will become a source of fascination and hope for a town caught in the storm of a rapidly changing world.

Ambrose, a man more comfortable at sea than on land, brings Brendan into his home out of love. But it’s a decision that will fracture his family and force him to try to understand himself and those he cares for.

Bookended by the arrival and departure of a single mesmerizing boy, Garrett Carr’s The Boy From the Sea is an exploration of the ties that make us and bind us, as a family and community move irresistibly towards the future.


Review:

Atmospheric, intimate, and immersive!

The Boy from the Sea is a captivating, poignant tale that sweeps you away to the Irish coastal village of Donegal and into the lives of the Bonnar family as their lives are irrevocably changed forever when one day they decide to adopt a young baby boy who washed up on the shore in a barrel.

The prose is rich and expressive. The characters are flawed, hardworking, and authentic. And the plot is an astute, compelling tale about life, loss, friendship, family, secrets, curiosity, guilt, jealousy, politics, responsibilities, sibling rivalry, marine life, hope, love, and self-identity.

Overall, The Boy from the Sea is ultimately a beautifully written, tender tale by Carr that does a remarkable job of delving into the complex dynamics that exist between family members and is a wonderful reminder of just how complicated, challenging, memorable and emotional growing up can truly be, especially when doing so in a small island community where everyone knows everyone else.

 

This novel is available now.

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

         

 

 

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

 

About Garrett Carr

Garrett Carr teaches Creative Writing at the Seamus Heaney Centre, Queen’s University Belfast, and he is a frequent contributor to The Guardian and The Irish Times. His non-fiction The Rule of the Land: Walking Ireland's Border was a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week. The Boy from the Sea is his debut novel.

#BookReview The Maid’s Secret by Nita Prose @NitaProse @PenguinCanada #TheMaidsSecret #NitaProse #PenguinReads #PenguinCanada

#BookReview The Maid’s Secret by Nita Prose @NitaProse @PenguinCanada #TheMaidsSecret #NitaProse #PenguinReads #PenguinCanada Title: The Maid's Secret

Author: Nita Prose

Series: Molly the Maid #3

Published by: Viking on Apr. 8, 2025

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 326

Format: ARC, eBook

Source: Penguin Random House Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

A wedding. A heist. A secret.

Molly Gray’s life is about to change in ways she could never have imagined. As the esteemed Head Maid and recently promoted Special Events Manager of the Regency Grand Hotel, good things are just around the corner, including her marriage to her beloved fiancé, Juan Manuel, only two months away. 

But Molly’s entire existence is upended when a film crew descends upon the hotel to shoot the hit reality TV show Hidden Treasures, starring popular art appraisers Brown and Beagle. On a whim, Molly brings in a shoebox containing a few of her gran’s old things for appraisal, and much to everyone’s surprise, one item turns out to be a rare and priceless treasure. Instantly, Molly is both a multi-millionaire and a media sensation—the world’s rags-to-riches darling—until the priceless piece vanishes from the hotel in the boldest, brashest antiquities heist in recent memory.

The key to the mystery lies in the past, in a long-forgotten diary written by Molly’s gran. For the first time ever, Molly learns about Gran’s true-to-life fairytale, a young girl to the manor born, the only child of a wealthy magnate. But when Gran falls head over heels in love with a young man her parents deem below her station, her life is thrown into turmoil. As fate would have it, the greatest love of Gran’s life is someone Molly knows quite well….

Together with her friends, Molly combs the past and the present to catch the thief before looming threats against her become real.

A spirited heist caper and an epic love story, The Maid’s Secret is a spellbinding whodunnit that will capture and warm your heart.


Review:

Mysterious, sentimental, and fun!

The Maid’s Secret is a suspenseful, engaging tale that takes us back into the life of Molly Gray, a charming young maid who, after learning of the reality show Hidden Treasures filming at the hotel, decides to take some of her gran’s extraordinary things to be appraised only to discover that one of them is priceless and something somebody is really eager to steal, and the other is an item that will give her invaluable insight into a life once filled with wealth and betrayal.

The writing style is intricate and light. The characters are curious, supportive, and intriguing. And the plot is a well-paced, compelling tale of life, love, family, friendship, tricky situations, awkward moments, ruthless behaviour, deduction, and amateur sleuthing.

Overall, The Maid’s Secret is an immersive, satisfying, wonderful addition to the Molly the Maid series by Prose that once again confirms why this is and always will be a must-read series for me.

 

This novel is available now.

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

         

 

 

 

Thank you to Penguin Canada for providing me with a copy of this story in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Nita Prose

NITA PROSE is a longtime editor, serving many bestselling authors and their books. She lives in Toronto, Canada, in a house that is only moderately clean.…

Photo by Dahlia Katz Photography.

#BookReview A Proposal to Die For by Molly Harper @BerkleyRomance @PenguinRandomCA #AProposalToDieFor #MollyHarper #Berkley #BerkleyPartner #PenguinReads

#BookReview A Proposal to Die For by Molly Harper @BerkleyRomance @PenguinRandomCA #AProposalToDieFor #MollyHarper #Berkley #BerkleyPartner #PenguinReads Title: A Proposal to Die For

Author: Molly Harper

Published by: Berkley on Apr. 8, 2025

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 352

Format: Paperback

Source: Berkley Publishing

Book Rating: 8/10

A fast-paced, witty, and delightful new mystery about a marriage proposal planner whose biggest job yet is threatened by a dead body (or two).

Jessamine Bricker loves a plan. Contingency plans and pros-and-cons lists are her love language, and because of that, her proposal planning business is thriving. But with rent costs rising at her office building, Jess jumps at the chance to plan a proposal between her snobby high school classmate, Diana, and her very wealthy boyfriend, Trenton Tillard…the Fourth.

Roped into joining Diana’s ”pre-bridal” retreat at the exclusive Golden Ash resort, Jess hopes to fade into the background, get some work done, and maybe find some time to unwind. Their first day is anything but relaxing: Diana is furious about the mountain spa’s lack of cell phone reception, the couple next door argues constantly, and Jess swears she just saw a drug deal go down. To top it all off, she’s warned to stay out of the woods by the gruff and sexy chef, Dean Osbourne. Is this a retreat or a horror movie?

As Jess tries to do her job while placating the bride-to-be and her increasingly over-the-top demands, she spends more and more time with the resort owners, finding herself much more in tune with the laid-back Osbourne family than her social climbing “boss.” Between a meditation garden-related drowning and Jess’s discovery of a body in a sauna, it’s clear that deadly secrets abound at the Golden Ash. Now it’s up to Jess to unravel the mysteries here in the mountains—before all her plans are cancelled…permanently.


Review:

Whimsical, engaging, and satisfying!

A Proposal to Die For is a well-paced, amusing murder mystery that takes you into the life of Jessamine Bricker, a young woman who, after a high school classmate she never really liked hires her to plan her engagement proposal, finds her life turned upside down when while at a pre-wedding retreat, more than one person winds up dead.

The writing is playful and light. The characters are inquisitive, clever, and determined. And the plot is a delightful mix of misdirection, deduction, clues, suspects, mishaps, drama, amateur sleuthing, and murder.

Overall, A Proposal to Die For is a humorous, charming, quirky whodunit by Harper that is the perfect choice for anyone looking for a fun, lighthearted read.

 

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 Molly Harper

Molly Harper is the author of more than forty paranormal romance, contemporary romance, women’s fiction, and young adult titles. A lifelong romance reader, she graduated with a Masters of Fine Arts from Seton Hill University, focusing on writing popular fiction. She lived in Kentucky for most of her life before recently moving to Michigan with her family…and she’s still figuring out how to choose outerwear and play complicated winter card games.