Format: Paperback

#BookReview The Ghosts of Rome by Joseph O’Connor @EuropaEditions @PGCBooks #JosephOConnor #TheGhostsOfRome #RomeEscapeLineTrilogy #PGCBooks

#BookReview The Ghosts of Rome by Joseph O’Connor @EuropaEditions @PGCBooks #JosephOConnor #TheGhostsOfRome #RomeEscapeLineTrilogy #PGCBooks Title: The Ghosts of Rome

Author: Joseph O'Connor

Series: Rome Escape Line Trilogy #2

Published by: Europa Editions on Feb. 14, 2025

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 400

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 9/10

In the final months of World War II, a clandestine group known as The Choir smuggles thousands of escapees out of Nazi-occupied Rome via a secret route known as the Rome Escape Line. When an unidentified airman falls from the sky, The Choir is plunged into lethal danger and the survival of the Escape Line itself is threatened.

The Choir is riven with internal tensions and infighting. The organization is in danger of falling apart, which would leave thousands of escaped allied soldiers, POWs, Jews, and objectors stranded in a Rome that is ruled with vicious efficiency by the Nazis. Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty, the architect of the Escape Line and acknowledged leader of The Choir, broods inside the Vatican, seemingly paralyzed by what he sees as the intolerable risks of keeping the Escape Line in operation.

One man has been given the task of definitively destroying the entire operation and the price of his failure is high—SS Commander Paul Hauptmann’s wife and children are under Gestapo supervision in Berlin. Hauptmann is ordered to stay on in the city he both loathes and loves and to dismantle the Escape Line, or watch his family perish. Into this deliriously thrilling melee steps the Contessa Giovanna Landini, a reckless, audacious, and magnetic member of the Italian Resistance who has the nerve to challenge Hauptmann’s authority.

A beautifully written and expertly crafted historical suspense novel that is bursting with action, atmosphere, and unforgettable characters, The Ghosts of Rome is the thrilling follow-up to Joseph O’Connor’s best-selling My Father’s House.


Review:

Charged, emotional, and action-packed!

The Ghosts of Rome is a fascinating, enticing tale that picks up right where My Father’s House left off, taking us back to Vatican City during WWII and into the lives of a handful of individuals known as “The Choir” who now find themselves doing whatever they can to help a shot down, wounded allied airman evade capture while also getting him the life-saving surgery he desperately needs.

The prose is smooth and expressive. The characters are selfless, reliable, and resourceful. And the plot unravels and intertwines briskly into a sweeping saga of life, loss, bravery, strength, loyalty, espionage, grit, determination, deception, secrets, and survival.

Overall, The Ghosts of Rome is an intricate, suspenseful, captivating tale by O’Connor based on real-life events that does a wonderful job of interweaving historical facts and compelling fiction into a thrilling, heart-tugging tale that is atmospheric and highly absorbing.

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 Joseph O'Connor

Joseph O’Connor was born in Dublin. He is the author of the novels Cowboys and Indians (short-listed for the Whitbread Prize), Desperadoes , The Salesman , Inishowen , Star of the Sea and Redemption Falls , as well as a number of bestselling works of non-fiction.

He was recently voted ‘Irish Writer of the Decade’ by the readers of Hot Press magazine. He broadcasts a popular weekly radio diary on RTE’s Drivetime With Mary Wilson and writes regularly for The Guardian Review and The Sunday Independent. In 2009 he was the Harman Visiting Professor of Creative Writing at Baruch College, the City University of New York.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Website.

#BookReview A Calamity of Souls by David Baldacci @davidbaldacci @GrandCentralPub #DavidBaldacci #ACalamityofSouls #GCPInsider

#BookReview A Calamity of Souls by David Baldacci @davidbaldacci @GrandCentralPub #DavidBaldacci #ACalamityofSouls #GCPInsider Title: A Calamity of Souls

Author: David Baldacci

Published by: Grand Central Publishing on Feb. 11, 2025

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 512

Format: Paperback

Source: Grand Central Publishing

Book Rating: 9/10

Set in the tumultuous year of 1968 in southern Virginia, a racially-charged murder case sets a duo of white and Black lawyers against a deeply unfair system as they work to defend their wrongfully-accused Black defendants in this courtroom drama from #1 New York Times bestselling author David Baldacci. 

Jack Lee is a white lawyer from Freeman County, Virginia, who has never done anything to push back against racism, until he decides to represent Jerome Washington, a Black man charged with brutally killing an elderly and wealthy white couple. Doubting his decision, Lee fears that his legal skills may not be enough to prevail in a case where the odds are already stacked against both him and his client. And he quickly finds himself out of his depth when he realizes that what is at stake is far greater than the outcome of a murder trial.

Desiree DuBose is a Black lawyer from Chicago who has devoted her life to furthering the causes of justice and equality for everyone. She comes to Freeman County and enters a fractious and unwieldy partnership with Lee in a legal battle against the best prosecutor in the Commonwealth. Yet DuBose is also aware that powerful outside forces are at work to blunt the victories achieved by the Civil Rights era.  

Lee and DuBose could not be more dissimilar. On their own, neither one can stop the prosecution’s deliberate march towards a guilty verdict and the electric chair. But together, the pair fight for what once seemed impossible: a chance for a fair trial and true justice.

Over a decade in the writing, A Calamity of Souls breathes richly imagined and detailed life into a bygone era, taking the reader through a world that will seem both foreign and familiar.


Review:

Impactful, atmospheric, and hauntingly realistic!

A Calamity of Souls is a fast-paced, sinister tale that takes you into the life of small-town white attorney Jack Lee as he suddenly finds himself partnering with the well-known, indomitable Black lawyer Desiree DuBose on the case of his life when he agrees to defend Jerome Washington, a local Black man who, after being found near the bodies of an influential white couple, is automatically presumed guilty.

The prose is gritty and descriptive. The characters are vulnerable, raw, and impulsive. And the plot is an immersive, absorbing tale of life, loss, poverty, familial drama, friendship, courage, morality, loyalty, community, self-preservation, bigotry, racial injustice, violence, and murder.

Overall, A Calamity of Souls is a sincere, ominous, pensive tale by Baldacci that not only highlights the ugliness and weakness of group mentality and the ease with which it allows one to behave with ignorance, intolerance, and even participate in the most unforgivable of crimes, but also reminds us that kindness and compassion is the base of humanity that should ultimately always transcend skin colour and socioeconomic status.

 

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 Blood Ties by Jo Nesbo @doubledayca @PenguinRandomCA #BloodTies #JoNesbo #KongeriketSeries #PenguinReads

#BookReview Blood Ties by Jo Nesbo @doubledayca @PenguinRandomCA #BloodTies #JoNesbo #KongeriketSeries #PenguinReads Title: Blood Ties

Author: Jo Nesbo

Series: Kongeriket #2

Published by: Random House Canada on Feb. 11, 2025

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 384

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Penguin Random House Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

The modern master of Nordic noir is back with an explosive novel about two brothers who, on the verge of losing everything, are willing to do anything to stop that from happening.

By all accounts, Carol and Roy Opgard are doing quite well for themselves. Or at least they are doing as well as can be expected in a small town like Os. Carl manages the area’s swanky and successful spa, while Roy runs the local gas station and dreams of building it into an entire amusement park complete with a roller coaster. But then news breaks about a new highway that will bypass Os and leave the town cut off and isolated. Something has to be done about that, even if the methods need to be dirty. Fortunately, Roy and Carl have experience with dirty work.

Meanwhile, the town sheriff has gotten his hands on new technology that will enable him to take a deeper look at a spate of unsolved murders from years past—including that of his own father. Just as the sheriff reopens his investigation, the death toll begins to climb. Like Roy says about his roller coaster: “Once it is rolling, it’s too late to get off.”

Blood Ties is a tense, compulsively readable tour de force about loyalty, family ties and love that is as destructive as it is powerful.


Review:

Dark, simmering, and gritty!

Blood Ties is a slow-burning, intricate tale that takes us back to the small Norwegian village of Os and into the lives of the Opgard brothers. Carl, a college graduate turned spa owner, and Roy, a garage owner with lofty dreams of building an amusement park, as they each grapple with enduring jealousy, exceptional childhood cruelty, devastating violence, and long-buried secrets that bind them together but which may ultimately tear them apart.

The writing is edgy and tight. The characters are consumed, deceitful, and troubled. And the plot is an ominous, murky tale full of twists, turns, secrets, surprises, familial drama, lies, greed, obsession, resentments, mayhem, abuse, violence, childhood trauma, swirling emotions, guilt, wickedness, and murder.

Overall, Blood Ties is a twisty, unpredictable, sinister page-turner by Nesbo that transports you into the darkest corners of the human psyche and takes you on a roller coaster ride of psychological manipulation, control, corruption, and ruthless ambition.

 

This novel is available now.

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

        

 

 

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Jo Nesbo

Jo Nesbø is a bestselling Norwegian author and musician. He was born in Oslo and grew up in Molde. Nesbø graduated from the Norwegian School of Economics with a degree in economics. Nesbø is primarily famous for his crime novels about Detective Harry Hole, but he is also the main vocals and songwriter for the Norwegian rock band Di Derre. In 2007 Nesbø also released his first children's book, Doktor Proktors Prompepulver.

#BookReview First-Time Caller by B.K. Borison @BerkleyRomance @PenguinRandomCA #FirstTimeCaller #HeartstringsSeries #BKBorison #Berkley #BerkleyPartner #PenguinReads

#BookReview First-Time Caller by B.K. Borison @BerkleyRomance @PenguinRandomCA #FirstTimeCaller #HeartstringsSeries #BKBorison #Berkley #BerkleyPartner #PenguinReads Title: First-Time Caller

Author: B.K. Borison

Series: Heartstrings #1

Published by: Berkley on Feb. 11, 2025

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 448

Format: Paperback

Source: Berkley Publishing

Book Rating: 9/10

A hopeless romantic meets a jaded radio host in this cozy, Sleepless in Seattle-inspired love story from beloved author B.K. Borison.

Aiden Valentine has a secret: he’s fallen out of love with love. And as the host of Baltimore’s romance hotline, that’s a bit of a problem. But when a young girl calls in to the station asking for dating advice for her mom, the interview goes viral, thrusting Aiden and Heartstrings into the limelight.

Lucie Stone thought she was doing just fine. She has a good job; an incredible family; and a smart, slightly devious kid. But when all of Baltimore is suddenly scrutinizing her love life-or lack thereof—she begins to question if she’s as happy as she thought. Maybe a little more romance wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

Everyone wants Lucie to find her happy ending… even the handsome, temperamental man calling the shots. But when sparks start to fly behind the scenes, Lucie must make the final call between the radio-sponsored happily ever after or the man in the headphones next to her.


Review:

Sweet, touching, and romantic!

First-Time Caller is a tender, insightful tale that takes you into the life of the disillusioned Baltimore romance radio host Aiden as he struggles to juggle a disheartening career, philophobia stemming from childhood trauma, a new addition to his late-night show, and the budding attraction he feels for Lucie, a caller who has her heart set on finding magic.

The writing is smooth and genuine. The characters are lonely, quirky, and supportive. And the plot is a captivating, touching blend of introspection, friendship, self-depreciating humour, awkward situations, sweet moments, dating woes, misunderstandings, patience, intimacy, and unconditional love.

Overall, First-Time Caller is a charming, heartwarming, spirited tale by Borison that had just the right amount of emotion, angst, and passion to make this an easy, lighthearted, enjoyable read that I highly recommend and absolutely adore.

 

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 B.K. Borison

B.K. Borison is the author of cozy, contemporary romances featuring emotionally vulnerable characters and swoon-worthy settings. When she’s not daydreaming about fictional characters doing fictional things, she’s at home with her family, more than likely buying books she doesn’t have room for. Lovelight Farms was her debut novel.

#BookReview The Boyfriend Hypothesis by Susannah Nix @PGCBooks @panmacmillan #TheBoyfriendHypothesis #ChemistryLessonsSeries #SusannahNix #PGCBooks

#BookReview The Boyfriend Hypothesis by Susannah Nix @PGCBooks @panmacmillan #TheBoyfriendHypothesis #ChemistryLessonsSeries #SusannahNix #PGCBooks Title: The Boyfriend Hypothesis

Author: Susannah Nix

Series: Chemistry Lessons #3

Published by: Pan Macmillan on Jan. 7, 2025

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 293

Format: Paperback

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 8/10

After four lousy boyfriends in a row, chemical engineer Penny Popplestone swears off men until she can figure out why they keep cheating on her. But her no-men resolution hits a snag when the mysterious and superhumanly hot barista at her favorite coffee shop strikes up a friendship with her.

Penny strives to keep things platonic, but when Caleb gives her the kiss of her life, she realizes he wants to be more than just friends. Tired of always being “good little Penny,” she throws caution to the wind and pursues a no-strings fling with the hottie barista. It’s not like they have anything in common beyond scorching physical chemistry, so what does she have to lose?

Only her heart.

Now, this fanfic-reading, plus-size heroine faces an unsolvable problem. What do you do when being apart is unbearable…but being together is impossible?

Advanced Physical Chemistry is the third in a series of standalone rom-coms featuring geeky heroines who work in STEM fields.


Review:

Heartfelt, light, and fun!

The Boyfriend Hypothesis is a tender, passionate rom-com featuring the kind, intelligent Penny who, after finally deciding to swear off finding Mr. Right, decides to have a no-strings fling with the quiet barista at her favourite coffee shop, the sexy, charismatic Caleb, who may turn out to be more of a forever guy than either of them ever expected.

The prose is sweet and spirited. The characters are charming, independent, and reliable. And the plot is a push-pull tale of instant attraction, witty banter, palpable chemistry, friendship, family, light drama, and unconditional love.

Overall, The Boyfriend Hypothesis is a cute, heartwarming, entertaining tale by Nix that’s a great addition to the Chemistry Lessons series with its amusing characters, heartfelt moments, and happy-ever-after ending.

 

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 Susannah Nix

Susannah Nix is an Award-winning and USA Today bestselling author of rom-coms and contemporary romances who lives in Texas with her husband. On the rare occasions she's not writing, she can be found reading, knitting, lifting weights, drinking wine, or obsessively watching Ted Lasso on repeat to stave off existential angst.

#BookReview Witchcraft for Wayward Girls @PenguinRandomCA #WitchcraftForWaywardGirls #GradyHendrix #PenguinReads

#BookReview Witchcraft for Wayward Girls @PenguinRandomCA #WitchcraftForWaywardGirls #GradyHendrix #PenguinReads Title: Witchcraft for Wayward Girls

Author: Grady Hendrix

Published by: Berkley on Jan. 14, 2025

Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Horror

Pages: 496

Format: Paperback

Source: Penguin Random House Canada

Book Rating: 8/10

There’s power in a book…

They call them wayward girls. Loose girls. Girls who grew up too fast. And they’re sent to the Wellwood Home in St. Augustine, Florida, where unwed mothers are hidden by their families to have their babies in secret, give them up for adoption, and most important of all, to forget any of it ever happened.

Fifteen-year-old Fern arrives at the home in the sweltering summer of 1970, pregnant, terrified and alone. Under the watchful eye of the stern Miss Wellwood, she meets a dozen other girls in the same predicament. There’s Rose, a hippie who insists she’s going to find a way to keep her baby and escape to a commune. And Zinnia, a budding musician who knows she’s going to go home and marry her baby’s father. And Holly, a wisp of a girl, barely fourteen, mute and pregnant by no-one-knows-who.

Everything the girls eat, every moment of their waking day, and everything they’re allowed to talk about is strictly controlled by adults who claim they know what’s best for them. Then Fern meets a librarian who gives her an occult book about witchcraft, and power is in the hands of the girls for the first time in their lives. But power can destroy as easily as it creates, and it’s never given freely. There’s always a price to be paid…and it’s usually paid in blood.


Review:

Dark, visceral, and atmospheric!

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls is an intricate, ominous tale that transports you back to 1970s Florida and into the lives of several teenagers who, after being dropped off at a home for unwed pregnant girls and treated barbarically, decide to impart their own type of revenge using the spells they find in the “How to Be a Groovy Witch” book they are gifted by a strange bookmobile librarian with an agenda of her own. 

The writing is vivid and sharp. The characters are vulnerable, desperate, and impulsive. And the plot is an eerie tale full of twists, turns, secrets, surprises, heartbreak, abuse, survival, childbirth, female friendship and violence, all interwoven with the supernatural.

Overall, Witchcraft for Wayward Girls is an intense, creative, disturbing page-turner by Hendrix that, being the unique mix of horror, fantasy and historical fiction genres, certainly left me unnerved and highly entertained 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 Penguin Random House Canada for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Grady Hendrix

Grady Hendrix is a New York Times bestselling novelist and screenwriter living in New York City. He is the author of How to Sell a Haunted House, The Final Girl Support Group, The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, We Sold Our Souls, My Best Friend’s Exorcism, and Horrorstör. His books have sold over two million copies and have been translated into more than twenty languages. He also writes nonfiction and his history of the horror paperback boom of the seventies and eighties, Paperbacks from Hell, received the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Nonfiction.

#BookReview Under Loch and Key by Lana Ferguson @BerkleyRomance @PenguinRandomCA #UnderLochAndKey #LanaFerguson #Berkley #BerkleyPartner #PenguinReads

#BookReview Under Loch and Key by Lana Ferguson @BerkleyRomance @PenguinRandomCA #UnderLochAndKey #LanaFerguson #Berkley #BerkleyPartner #PenguinReads Title: Under Loch and Key

Author: Lana Ferguson

Published by: Berkley on Dec. 3, 2024

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Paranormal Romance

Pages: 416

Format: Paperback

Source: Berkley Publishing

Book Rating: 8/10

A woman discovers that not all monsters are her enemy—the opposite, in fact—in this new paranormal romance by Lana Ferguson, author of The Fake Mate.

Keyanna “Key” MacKay is used to secrets. Raised by a single father who never divulged his past, it’s only after his death that she finds herself thrust into the world he’d always refused to speak of. With just a childhood bedtime story about a monster that saved her father’s life and the name of her estranged grandmother to go off of, Key has no idea what she’ll find in Scotland. But repeating her father’s mistakes and being rescued by a gorgeous, angry Scotsman—who thinks she’s an idiot—is definitely the last thing she expects.

Lachlan Greer has his own secrets to keep, especially from the bonnie lass he pulls to safety from the slippery shore—a lass with captivating eyes and the last name he’s been taught not to trust. He’s looking for answers as well, and Key’s presence on the grounds they both now occupy presents a real problem. It’s even more troublesome when he gets a front row seat to the lukewarm welcome Key receives from her family; the strange powers she begins to develop; and the fierce determination she brings to every obstacle in her path. Things he shouldn’t care about, and someone he definitely doesn’t find wildly attractive.

When their secrets collide, it becomes clear that Lachlan could hold the answers Keyanna is after—and that she might also be the key to uncovering his. Up against time, mystery, and a centuries old curse, they’ll quickly discover that magic might not only be in fairy tales, and that love can be a real loch-mess.


Review:

Quirky, amusing, and sweet!

Under Loch and Key is a cute, sentimental romance that takes you into the life of Keyanna MacKay, a grieving young woman who finds herself accidentally becoming part of an ancient curse involving a water-loving monster when she heads to her father’s hometown in Scotland to spread his ashes and finally meet the family she never knew she had.

The writing is light and playful. The characters are fierce, feisty, and dependable. And the plot is an engaging tale full of danger, temptation, mystique, chemistry, history, attraction, traditions, witty banter, humorous mishaps, and the supernatural.

Overall, Under Loch and Key is a humorous, charming, unique tale by Ferguson that is a good choice for anyone who loves a little adventure, a dab of romance, and a whole slew of paranormal, unconventional fun.

 

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 Lana Ferguson

Lana Ferguson is a sex-positive nerd whose works never shy from spice or sass. A faded Fabio book cover found its way into her hands at fifteen, and she’s never been the same since. When she isn’t writing, you can find her randomly singing show tunes, arguing over which Batman is superior, and subjecting her friends to the extended editions of The Lord of the Rings. Lana lives mostly in her own head but can sometimes be found chasing her corgi through the coppice of the great American outdoors.

#BookReview Only in Your Dreams by Ellie K. Wilde @SimonSchusterCA #OnlyInYourDreams #EllieKWilde #OakwoodBaySeries #SimonSchusterCA

#BookReview Only in Your Dreams by Ellie K. Wilde @SimonSchusterCA #OnlyInYourDreams #EllieKWilde #OakwoodBaySeries #SimonSchusterCA Title: Only in Your Dreams

Author: Ellie K. Wilde

Series: Oakwood Bay #1

Published by: Simon & Schuster Canada on Jan. 21, 2025

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 432

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

If he can prove he loved her then, and he loves her still, this time might be different.

Ten years after one of the most heartbreaking nights of her life, Melody Woods is back in her small hometown of Oakwood Bay, broke, jaded, and unceremoniously dumped by her big-city boyfriend. To top it all off, her twin brother, Parker, is pushing her to take his spot on a camping trip with the one guy she’s spent a decade avoiding.

For college football coach Zac Porter, his best friend’s twin sister, Melody, has always been off-limits. And after fumbling his chance ten years ago, a devastated Zac was sure he’d lost Melody for good. So, when Melody shows up at the campsite instead of Parker, Zac realizes that now is the time to prove to her that they were always meant to be, no matter how long it takes to make up for his teenage self’s mistake.

Reeling from the truth of her last relationship, Melody plans to stay in town just long enough to get back on her feet. Then, she’s gone again. Meanwhile, Zac is facing an uphill battle to coach his team to its first winning game in years, to show Melody how she deserves to be loved, and to keep Parker from ever finding out. Maybe then, being with her will be more than just a dream.


Review:

Sultry, entertaining, and sweet!

Only in Your Dreams is a passionate, charming tale that mixes the weary, disheartened Melody who, after a disastrous breakup and a return to her hometown, is determined to put all her time and effort into picking herself back up while doing her best to stay away from the man who broke her heart ten years ago, and the delectable, dependable Zac who has finally decided he’s waited long enough and is finally willing to take the risk and act on his feelings for his best friend’s twin sister.

The writing is titillating and crisp. The characters, including all the supporting characters, are fun-loving and engaging. And the plot sweeps you away into a sassy, push-pull storyline filled with witty banter, shameless flirting, sizzling chemistry, friendship, family, introspection, romance, and light drama.

Overall, Only in Your Dreams is a fabulous read to kick off the new year. I enjoyed the characters, I enjoyed the storyline, and I swooned over the happy-ever-after ending!

 

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 Ellie K. Wilde

Ellie K. Wilde dreams up love stories with a lot of heart and the kind of spice that makes your knees shake. She writes male leads with big personalities and sweet, cinnamon roll insides, and women who discover they’re just as tough as they wish they were. Happily-ever-afters only.

#BookReview Spiral by Bal Khabra @authorbalkhabra @BerkleyRomance @PenguinRandomCA #BalKhabra #Spiral #OffTheIceSeries #Berkley #BerkleyPartner #PenguinReads

#BookReview Spiral by Bal Khabra @authorbalkhabra @BerkleyRomance @PenguinRandomCA #BalKhabra #Spiral #OffTheIceSeries #Berkley #BerkleyPartner #PenguinReads Title: Spiral

Author: Bal Khabra

Series: Off the Ice #2

Published by: Berkley on Jan. 28, 2025

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 368

Format: Paperback

Source: Berkley Publishing, Penguin Random House Canada

Book Rating: 8/10

He’s on edge while she’s en pointe in this fake-dating sports romance from the author of the smash hit Collide.

Elias Westbrook, a newly drafted hockey player for the Toronto Thunder, is facing the challenges of fame and media scrutiny. With a growing fan base and too many expectations on his shoulders, he’s struggling to make his first career goal. The tabloids are reporting on his every move, including which woman he was last seen with, but all he wants to do is escape the spotlight.

Enter from stage left Sage Beaumont, an aspiring ballerina with dreams of joining the Aurora Ballet Theatre, but her lack of popularity online leaves her at a major disadvantage for securing the lead role. When Sage finds herself with the perfect opportunity to make her dreams come true by fake dating Elias, she takes her shot.

Soon enough, the flimsy fake-dating rules they set in place fall away in the face of their sizzling connection. But before things spiral out of control, Sage and Elias will have to decide if they’re willing to take the leap together or if they’ll call it quits.


Review:

Amusing, seductive, and sassy!

Spiral is a sweet, playful rom-com featuring the considerate, hunky Elias whose life is in turmoil due to the media’s relentless fascination with him and the ongoing stress of a looming trade if he can’t ever get that elusive first goal and the independent, selfless Sage who is struggling to get that one audition which would finally allow her to live beyond pay cheque to pay cheque.

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

Overall, Spiral is an alluring, sensitive, passionate addition to the Off the Ice series by Khabra that had characters I couldn’t help but root for and a happy-ever-after ending that left me once again 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 Berkley Romance and Penguin Random House Canada for this free copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Bal Khabra

Bal Khabra is a Canadian writer and book lover. Before she decided to jump into the romance pool, she spent her time gushing about books on social media. When inspiration strikes, she is found filling her notes app with ideas for romance novels. She loves reading about love, watching movies about love, and now, writing about it herself. There really isn’t much else that gets her heart fluttering the way HEAs do. She fell in love with writing and hopes to continue living out her romance author dreams.

#BookReview The Girls of the Glimmer Factory by Jennifer Coburn @JenniferCoburn @Sourcebooks @sbkslandmark #TheGirlsOfTheGlimmerFactory #JenniferCoburn #bookmarkedbylandmark

#BookReview The Girls of the Glimmer Factory by Jennifer Coburn @JenniferCoburn @Sourcebooks @sbkslandmark #TheGirlsOfTheGlimmerFactory #JenniferCoburn #bookmarkedbylandmark Title: The Girls of the Glimmer Factory

Author: Jennifer Coburn

Published by: Sourcebooks Landmark on Jan. 28, 2025

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 480

Format: Paperback

Source: Sourcebooks Landmark

Book Rating: 9/10

From the author of Cradles of the Reich comes a poignant and inspiring tale of resistance, friendship, and the dangers of propaganda, based on the real story of Theresienstadt, for fans of The Forest of Vanishing Stars and The German Wife.

Hannah longs for the days when she used to be free, but now, she is a Jewish prisoner at Theresienstadt, a model ghetto where the Nazis plan to make a propaganda film to convince the world that the Jewish people are living well in the camps. But Hannah will do anything to show the world the truth. Along with other young resistance members, they vow to disrupt the filming and derail the increasingly frequent deportations to death camps in the east.

Hilde is a true believer in the Nazi cause, working in the Reich Ministry of Enlightenment and Propaganda. Though they’re losing the war, Hilde hasn’t lost faith. She can’t stop the Allied bombings, but she can help the party create a documentary that will renew confidence in Hitler’s plans for Jewish containment. When the filming of Hitler Gives a City to the Jews faces production problems due to resistance, Hilde finds herself in a position to finally make a name for herself. And when she recognizes Hannah, an old childhood friend, she knows she can use their friendship to get the film back on track.


Review:

Compelling, intense, and absorbing!

The Girls of the Glimmer Factory is a charged, intriguing tale set during WWII that takes you into the lives of Hannah Kaufman, a young Jewish woman imprisoned in the Theresienstadt ghetto, and Hilde Kramer-Bischoff, a German filmmaker who is bound and determined to produce a film that shows the world the benefits of Hitler’s Nazi ideology.

The prose is fluid and rich. The characters are resilient, courageous, and strong. And the plot is a captivating tale of life, loss, love, family, survival, sacrifice, courage, selflessness, the unimaginable horrors of war, and the dangers of propaganda.

Overall, The Girls of the Glimmer Factory is an enticing, heart-tugging, atmospheric tale by Coburn that transports you to another time and place and immerses you so thoroughly into the feelings, lives, and personalities of the characters you can’t help but be fully engrossed and completely invested throughout.

 

This novel is available now.

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

 

About Jennifer Coburn

Jennifer Coburn is the author of Cradles of the Reich, a historical novel about three very different women living at a Nazi Lebensborn breeding home at the start of World War ll.

She has also published a mother-daughter travel memoir, We'll Always Have Paris, as well as six contemporary women's novels. Additionally, Jennifer has contributed to five literary anthologies, including A Paris All Your Own.

Jennifer lives in San Diego with her husband, William. Their daughter, Katie is currently in graduate school. When Jennifer is not going down historical research rabbit holes, she volunteers with So Say We All, a live storytelling organization, where she is a performer, producer, and performance coach. She is also an active volunteer with Reality Changers, a nonprofit that supports low-income high school students in becoming the first in their families to attend college. She specializes in college essay development, and interview prep.

Photo Credit: Killian Whitelock