Format: Paperback

#BookReview Must Love Books by Shauna Robinson @shaunarobs @Sourcebooks @sbkslandmark #MustLoveBooks #ShaunaRobinson #bookmarkedbylandmark

Published on by ZoeLeave a comment
#BookReview Must Love Books by Shauna Robinson @shaunarobs @Sourcebooks @sbkslandmark #MustLoveBooks #ShaunaRobinson #bookmarkedbylandmark Title: Must Love Books

Author: Shauna Robinson

Published by: Sourcebooks Landmark on Jan. 18, 2022

Genres: Women's Fiction

Pages: 336

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Sourcebooks Landmark

Book Rating: 8/10

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill meets Younger in a heartfelt debut following a young woman who discovers she’ll have to ditch the “dream job” and write her own story to find her happy ending.

Meet Nora Hughes—the overworked, underpaid, last bookish assistant standing. At least for now.

When Nora landed an editorial assistant position at Parsons Press, it was her first step towards The Dream Job. Because, honestly, is there anything dreamier than making books for a living? But after five years of lunch orders, finicky authors, and per my last emails, Nora has come to one grand conclusion: Dream Jobs do not exist.

With her life spiraling and the Parsons staff sinking, Nora gets hit with even worse news. Parsons is cutting her already unlivable salary. Unable to afford her rent and without even the novels she once loved as a comfort, Nora decides to moonlight for a rival publisher to make ends meet…and maybe poach some Parsons’ authors along the way.

But when Andrew Santos, a bestselling Parsons author no one can afford to lose is thrown into the mix, Nora has to decide where her loyalties lie. Her new Dream Job, ever-optimistic Andrew, or…herself and her future.

Review:

Heartwarming, engaging, and introspective!

Must Love Books is a lighthearted, thoughtful tale that takes you on a journey into the life of editorial assistant Nora Hughes as she navigates career uncertainty, financial struggles, demanding expectations, mental illness, and a budding new relationship.

The prose is sincere and light. The characters are multi-layered, kind, and lonely. And the plot is a genuine, soul-searching tale filled with hope, friendship, awkward moments, depression, suicidal ideation, contentment, happiness, and the ups and downs of life in the publishing world.

Overall, Must Love Books is a sweet, tender, delightful story by Robinson that, for the most part, kept me captivated and invested in both the characters and the situations and was a good reminder that life is about taking chances, moving on, discovering one’s true self at any age, and most importantly asking for help whenever we need it.

 

This book is available now.

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

           

 

 

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

 

About Shauna Robinson

Shauna Robinson’s love of books led her to try a career in publishing before deciding she’d rather write books instead. Originally from San Diego, she now lives in Virginia with her husband and their sleepy greyhound. Shauna is an introvert at heart—she spends most of her time reading, baking, and figuring out the politest way to avoid social interaction. Must Love Books is her debut novel.

Photo by Rachel E.H. Photography.

Website | Instagram

#BlogTour #BookReview One Step Too Far by Lisa Gardner @LisaGardnerBks @centurybooksuk #OneStepTooFar #LisaGardner

Published on by ZoeLeave a comment
#BlogTour #BookReview One Step Too Far by Lisa Gardner @LisaGardnerBks @centurybooksuk #OneStepTooFar #LisaGardner Title: One Step Too Far

Author: Lisa Gardner

Published by: Century on Jan. 20, 2022

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 416

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Arrow Publishing

Book Rating: 9/10

Frankie Elkin has dedicated her life to doing what no one else will: searching for missing people the world has forgotten.

When the police have given up, when the public no longer remembers, when the media has never paid attention, Frankie starts looking. She has found fourteen victims to date, but none yet alive. Traveling from city to city with more regrets than belongings, Frankie is drawn to a new case in Boston, and to a neighbourhood with a rough reputation.

Angelique Badeau, a local teenager and Haitian immigrant, vanished eleven months ago in the middle of the day from her high school.  No scrap of surveillance footage, no cell phone tracking; 
Angelique simply disappeared.

Despite resistance from the Boston PD and the victim’s wary family, Frankie starts to unpick the truth of Angelique’s disappearance and starts to discover there are those that don’t want these questions answered. But Frankie will stop at nothing to find Angelique and bring her home, even if it means the next person to go missing will be herself …

Review:

Twisty, tight, and incredibly atmospheric!

One Step Too Far is an engrossing, sinister thrill ride that takes us back on the road to solve the unsolved with Frankie Elkin, a middle-aged wanderer who now finds herself in the rugged Wyoming countryside and completely out of her element when she joins a search party, including the victim’s father, three of his friends, and three search and rescue specialists heading into the Shoshone National Forest wilderness to once and for all discover what happened to Timothy O’Day five years ago when he stepped away from his campsite never to be seen again.

The writing is brisk and sharp. The characters are tormented, scarred, and vulnerable. And the plot is tense, action-packed and full of suspicious personalities, unreliable characters, unexpected twists, nefarious motivations, mayhem, survival, violence, and murder.

Overall, One Step Too Far is an unpredictable, tortuous, gripping tale by Gardner, that like all her previous novels, kept me guessing from the very first page and left me unsettled, highly entertained, and certainly eager for more.

This book is available now.

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

                 

 

 

Thank you to Penguin Random House UK – Century Books for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Lisa Gardner

New York Times bestselling crime novelist Lisa Gardner began her career in food service, but after catching her hair on fire numerous times, she took the hint and focused on writing instead. A self-described research junkie, she has parlayed her interest in police procedure, cutting edge forensics and twisted plots into a streak of eleven bestselling suspense novels.

Lisa lives in the White Mountains of New Hampshire with her family, as well as two highly spoiled dogs and one extremely neurotic three-legged cat. Lisa graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in international relations.

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Bookbub

 

#BookReview The Redhead of Auschwitz by Nechama Birnbaum @AmsterdamPB #TheRedheadofAuschwitz #NechamaBirnbaum #AmsterdamPublishers #HolocaustMemoirs

Published on by ZoeLeave a comment
#BookReview The Redhead of Auschwitz by Nechama Birnbaum @AmsterdamPB #TheRedheadofAuschwitz #NechamaBirnbaum #AmsterdamPublishers #HolocaustMemoirs Title: The Redhead of Auschwitz

Author: Nechama Birnbaum

Published by: Amsterdam Publishers on Nov. 28, 2021

Genres: Nonfiction

Pages: 280

Format: Paperback

Source: Amsterdam Publishers

Book Rating: 10/10

Rosie was always told her red hair was a curse, but she never believed it. She often dreamed what it would look like under a white veil with the man of her dreams by her side. However, her life takes a harrowing turn in 1944 when she is forced out of her home and sent to the most gruesome of places: Auschwitz.

Upon arrival, Rosie’s head is shaved and along with the loss of her beautiful hair, she loses the life she once cherished. Among the chaos and surrounded by hopelessness, Rosie realizes the only thing the Nazis cannot take away from her is the fierce redhead resilience in her spirit. When all of her friends conclude they are going to heaven from Auschwitz, she remains determined to get home. She summons all of her courage, through death camps and death marches to do just that.

This victorious biography, written by Nechama Birnbaum in honor of her grandmother, is as full of life as it is of death. It is about the intricacies of Jewish culture that still exist today and the tender experiences that are universal to all humanity: family, coming of age, and first love. It is a story that celebrates believing in yourself no matter the odds. This is a story about the little redheaded girl who thought she could, and so she did.

Review:

Honest, powerful, and memorable!

The Redhead of Auschwitz is a candid, insightful, moving biography that tells the real-life story of Rosie Greenstein from being a young Jewish girl in Crasna, Romania, a teen who endured horrific persecution, inconceivable loss, and extreme cruelty during WWII, to the unimaginable strength, perseverance, and stubbornness she used to not only endure and survive but go on to be the loving redheaded matriarch of five children, twenty-eight grandchildren, one hundred and twenty great-grandchildren, and seven great-great-grandchildren.

The Redhead of Auschwitz is ultimately a heart-wrenching, affecting, personal family tale by Birnbaum that highlights the extreme hardships, suffering, and horrors endured during a heinous time in history when millions of lives were violated and senselessly lost, and reminds us that our greatest power against such evil, truly, is never to forget.

 

This novel is available now.

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

             

 

 

 

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

 

About Nechama Birnbaum

Nechama Birnbaum knew since she was a little girl that she wanted to write her grandmother's story. Her friend's grandmas brought them presents. Hers brought her stories, and stories were her favorite thing of all. When her grandmother told her how she would rip petals off flowers to see if the boy she liked, liked her back, and how she would crumple up the flower that landed on "he loves me not," and start again until it landed on "he loves me"; that was when Nechama knew for sure she would write her stubborn, determined grandma's story. She knew her grandma's tenacity started long before she told her friends in Auschwitz that she was going home from there.
Nechama lives in Brooklyn NY with her husband and daughters and nearby her redhead grandma. She is currently finishing her master's degree in nutrition.

#BookReview Lucky Leap Day by Ann Marie Walker @AnnMarie_Walker @SourcebooksCasa #LuckyLeapDay #AnnMarieWalker #SourcebooksCasa

Published on by Zoe1 Comment
#BookReview Lucky Leap Day by Ann Marie Walker @AnnMarie_Walker @SourcebooksCasa #LuckyLeapDay #AnnMarieWalker #SourcebooksCasa Title: Lucky Leap Day

Author: Ann Marie Walker

Published by: Sourcebooks Casablanca on Jan. 18, 2022

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 304

Format: Paperback

Source: Sourcebooks Casablanca

Book Rating: 8/10

Friends becoming something much more in this hilarious romantic comedy from author Ann Marie Walker. A whirlwind trip to Ireland is supposed to end with a suitcase full of wool sweaters and souvenir pint glasses—not a husband you only just met!

After one-too-many whiskeys, fledgling screenwriter Cara Kennedy takes a page out of someone else’s script when she gets caught up in the Irish tradition of women proposing on Leap Day. She thought she might have dreamt everything, until she wakes the next morning with a hot guy in her bed and a tin foil ring on her finger. Her flight is in four hours, her clothes are all over the room, and she has the most important meeting of her career in exactly two days—and on top of everything else, her husband has a dog who thinks Cara is a perfect surrogate mother, despite the fact that she has never been much of an animal lover…

Deciding to work things out stateside, Finn and her new fur baby accompany her to LA, where Finn spends his days going on auditions and his nights charming his new bride, leaving Cara to wonder whether this is real love, or if Finn is another aspiring actor just after her Hollywood connections? With limited time on his tourist visa, will Finn be able to convince Cara that she’s the right girl for him, or will time run out on their Hollywood ending?

Review:

Comical, uplifting, and sweet!

Lucky Leap Day is a heartwarming, amusing tale that takes you into the life of up-and-coming screenwriter Cara Kennedy as she juggles a broken heart, a lacklustre job, a potential career advancement, and a spontaneous marriage to a dishy, Irish cab driver on a special day that comes around only once every four years and after way too many whiskeys.

The writing is light and playful. The characters are kind, easygoing, and clever. And the plot is a fun, flirty, beguiling tale full of tricky situations, tender moments, humorous mishaps, self-discovery, friendship, romance, happiness and quirky traditions.

Overall, Lucky Leap Day is a nostalgic, charming, effortless read by Walker that made me smile, laugh, and dreamily swoon.

 

This book is available January 18, 2022.

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

            

 

 

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

 

About Ann Marie Walker

Ann Marie Walker writes steamy books about sexy boys. She's a fan of fancy cocktails, anything chocolate, and 80s rom-coms. Her super power is connecting any situation to an episode of Friends and she thinks all coffee cups should be the size of a bowl. If it's December she can be found watching Love Actually but the rest of the year you can find her at AnnMarieWalker.com where she would be happy to talk to you about alpha males, lemon drop martinis or supermodel David Gandy. Ann Marie attended the University of Notre Dame and currently lives in Chicago.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.

Website | Facebook | Instagram

#BookReview A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham @svwillingham @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #AFlickerintheDark #StacyWillingham #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers

Published on by ZoeLeave a comment
#BookReview A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham @svwillingham @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #AFlickerintheDark #StacyWillingham #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers Title: A Flicker in the Dark

Author: Stacy Willingham

Published by: Minotaur Books on Jan. 11, 2022

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 368

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Minotaur Books

Book Rating: 8.5/10

From debut author Stacy Willingham comes a masterfully done, lyrical thriller, certain to be the launch of an amazing career. A Flicker in the Dark is eerily compelling to the very last page.

When Chloe Davis was twelve, six teenage girls went missing in her small Louisiana town. By the end of the summer, Chloe’s father had been arrested as a serial killer and promptly put in prison. Chloe and the rest of her family were left to grapple with the truth and try to move forward while dealing with the aftermath.

Now 20 years later, Chloe is a psychologist in private practice in Baton Rouge and getting ready for her wedding. She finally has a fragile grasp on the happiness she’s worked so hard to get. Sometimes, though, she feels as out of control of her own life as the troubled teens who are her patients. And then a local teenage girl goes missing, and then another, and that terrifying summer comes crashing back. Is she paranoid, and seeing parallels that aren’t really there, or for the second time in her life, is she about to unmask a killer?

In a debut novel that has already been optioned for a limited series by actress Emma Stone and sold to a dozen countries around the world, Stacy Willingham has created an unforgettable character in a spellbinding thriller that will appeal equally to fans of Gillian Flynn and Karin Slaughter.

Review:

Intricate, gritty, and unsettling!

A Flicker in the Dark transports you into the life of psychologist Chloe Davis, a young woman just reaching a point of contentment in her life she never thought she would achieve, until the past suddenly collides with the present and teen girls start to go missing and are found murdered in an eerily similar way to the six teens her father murdered one summer twenty years ago.

The writing is tight and intense. The characters are complex, tormented, and unreliable. And the plot using flashbacks and a back-and-forth style intertwines and unravels seamlessly into an engrossing whodunit full of twists, turns, lies, deception, suspicious personalities, familial drama, depravity, violence, and murder.

Overall, A Flicker in the Dark is a devious, atmospheric, promising debut by Willingham that kept me guessing from the very first page and left me entertained, satisfied, and without a doubt eager to read whatever her deliciously sinister mind manages to come 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 St. Martin’s Press – Minotaur Books for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Stacy Willingham

STACY WILLINGHAM, author of A Flicker in the Dark, worked as a copywriter and brand strategist for various marketing agencies before deciding to write fiction full time. She earned her BA in Magazine Journalism from the University of Georgia and MFA in Writing from the Savannah College of Art & Design. She currently lives in Charleston, SC with her husband, Britt, and Labradoodle, Mako.

Photo by Mary Hannah Harte.

Facebook | Goodreads | Instagram

#BookReview Uncharted by Adriana Anders @adrianasboudoir @SourcebooksCasa #Uncharted #AdrianaAnders #SurvivalInstinctsSeries

Published on by Zoe1 Comment
#BookReview Uncharted by Adriana Anders @adrianasboudoir @SourcebooksCasa #Uncharted #AdrianaAnders #SurvivalInstinctsSeries Title: Uncharted

Author: Adriana Anders

Series: Survival Instincts #2

Published by: Sourcebooks Casablanca on Aug. 24, 2021

Genres: Romantic Suspense

Pages: 366

Format: Paperback

Source: Sourcebooks Casablanca

Book Rating: 8/10

Hotshot pilot Leo Eddowes is afraid of nothing and no one. So when she’s asked to evacuate a man from the wilds of Alaska, she doesn’t hesitate. But with enemies in close pursuit and the weather turning sour, what should have been a simple mission quickly shifts to disaster.

And there’s only one way out.

When Elias Thorne disappeared, he was America’s most wanted. Now he’s spent more than a decade in one of the most remote places on earth, guarding a dangerous secret. Leo’s arrival, quickly followed by a team of expert hunters, leaves him no choice but to join forces with her—and run. Neither is prepared for their reluctant partnership to flare into something as wild and untamed as the frozen world around them…but as desperately cold days melt into scorchingly hot nights, Leo and Elias must learn to dig deep, trust in each other, and forge a bond as strong as the forces of nature.

Stranded together in a frozen wilderness,
There’s nowhere left to run…

 

Review:

Intense, sexy, and adrenaline pumping!

Uncharted is a sinister, steamy tale that finds ex-military pilot Leo Eddowes and former US Marshall Elias Thorne in a race against time to save themselves against not only the harsh Alaskan wilderness but a team of mercenaries on a mission to find Campbell Turner, the man who has the virus they’re all looking for before they do.

The prose is tight and enticing. The characters are resilient, resourceful, and relentless. And the plot is a menacing tale of mischief, mayhem, manipulation, romance, impulsivity, sizzling attraction, desperation, drama, tension, survival, violence, and murder.

Overall, Uncharted is a propulsive, provocative, action-packed thrill ride by Anders that is highly entertaining, thoroughly engrossing, and the perfect choice for anyone who enjoys a really good survivalist tale with a lot of heat.

 

This book is available now.

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

               

 

 

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

 

About Adriana Anders

Adriana Anders is the award-winning author of Romantic Suspense and Contemporary Romance. Her debut, Under Her Skin, was a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2017 and double recipient of the HOLT Medallion award. Whiteout was named a Bookpage Best Book of the Year, an Entertainment Weekly Top 10 Romance, and an OprahMag Best Romance of 2020. Her books have received critical acclaim from Booklist, Bustle, USA Today Happy Ever After, Book Riot, Romantic Times, Publishers’ Weekly, and Kirkus, amongst other publications. Today, she resides with her husband and two children on the coast of France, writing the love stories of her heart.

Photo courtesy of Author's Website.

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest

#BookReview Darkness Falls by Robert Bryndza @RobertBryndza @ThomasAllenLTD @AmazonPub #DarknessFalls #KateMarshallSeries #RobertBryndza

Published on by Zoe2 Comments
#BookReview Darkness Falls by Robert Bryndza @RobertBryndza @ThomasAllenLTD @AmazonPub #DarknessFalls #KateMarshallSeries #RobertBryndza Title: Darkness Falls

Author: Robert Bryndza

Series: Kate Marshall #3

Published by: Thomas & Mercer on Dec. 7, 2021

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 304

Format: Paperback

Source: Thomas Allen & Son

Book Rating: 9/10

A missing persons case gone cold. Until Kate Marshall sees it from a terrifying new angle.

Kate Marshall’s fledgling PI agency takes off when she and her partner, Tristan Harper, are hired for their first big case. It’s a cold one. Twelve years before, journalist Joanna Duncan disappeared after exposing a political scandal. Most people have moved on. Joanna’s mother refuses to let go.

When Kate and Tristan gain access to the original case files, they revisit the same suspects and follow the same leads―but not to the same dead ends. Among Joanna’s personal effects, Kate discovers the names of two young men who also vanished without a trace.

As she connects the last days of three missing persons, Kate realizes that Joanna may have been onto something far more sinister than anyone first believed: the identity of a serial killer hiding in plain sight. The closer Kate comes to finding him, the darker it’s going to get.

Review:

Relentless, unpredictable, and sinister!

In this latest novel in the Kate Marshall series, Darkness Falls, Bryndza has written another complex, ominous thriller featuring former police detective turned PI Kate Marshall and her loyal partner Tristan Harper as they work together on their first big assignment involving the thirteen-year-old cold case of a missing journalist who at the time of her disappearance was embroiled in the investigation and exposition of a local married MP with a penchant for young men.

The writing is crisp and tight. The characters are astute, diligent, and multi-layered. And the intricate plot keeps you engrossed from start to finish with its twists, turns, deception, revelations, corruption, power, red herrings, violence, and murder.

I have to say this series just keeps getting better and better. Darkness Falls is an intricately woven, perfectly paced, highly entertaining whodunit that has all the elements I look for in a thrilling mystery, complete with a riveting storyline, exceptional character development, and an ending that left me 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 Thomas Allen & Son for providing me with a copy in exchange for an review.

 

About Robert Bryndza

Robert Bryndza is an international bestselling author, best known for his page-turning crime and thriller novels, which have sold over four million copies in the English language.

His crime debut, The Girl in the Ice was released in February 2016, introducing Detective Chief Inspector Erika Foster. Within five months it sold one million copies, reaching number one in the Amazon UK, USA and Australian charts. To date, The Girl in the Ice has sold over 1.5 million copies in the English language and has been sold into translation in 29 countries. It was nominated for the Goodreads Choice Award for Mystery & Thriller (2016), the Grand prix des lectrices de Elle in France (2018), and it won two reader voted awards, The Thrillzone Awards best debut thriller in The Netherlands (2018) and The Dead Good Papercut Award for best page turner at the Harrogate Crime Festival (2016).

Robert has released a further five novels in the Erika Foster series, The Night Stalker, Dark Water, Last Breath, Cold Blood and Deadly Secrets, all of which have been global bestsellers, and in 2017 Last Breath was a Goodreads Choice Award nominee for Mystery and Thriller.

Most recently, Robert created a new crime thriller series based around the central character Kate Marshall, a police officer turned private detective. The first book, Nine Elms, was an Amazon USA #1 bestseller and an Amazon UK top five bestseller, and the series has been sold into translation in 18 countries. The second book in the series is the global bestselling, Shadow Sands and the third book, Darkness Falls, has just been published.

Robert was born in Lowestoft, on the east coast of England. He studied at Aberystwyth University, and the Guildford School of Acting, and was an actor for several years, but didn’t find success until he took a play he’d written to the Edinburgh Festival. This led to the decision to change career and start writing. He self-published a bestselling series of romantic comedy novels, before switching to writing crime. Robert lives with his husband in Slovakia, and is lucky enough to write full-time.

Website | Blog | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube

#BookReview The Child of Auschwitz by Lily Graham @lilygrahambooks @GrandCentralPub #LilyGraham #TheChildofAuschwitz

Published on by Zoe1 Comment
#BookReview The Child of Auschwitz by Lily Graham @lilygrahambooks @GrandCentralPub #LilyGraham #TheChildofAuschwitz Title: The Child of Auschwitz

Author: Lily Graham

Published by: Grand Central Publishing on Sep. 7, 2021

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 256

Format: Paperback

Source: Grand Central Publishing

Book Rating: 9/10

For readers of Lilac Girls and The Tattooist of Auschwitz, a heartbreaking story of survival, where life or death relies on the smallest chance and happiness can be found in the darkest times.

​It is 1942 and Eva Adami has boarded a train to Auschwitz. Barely able to breathe due to the press of bodies and exhausted from standing up for two days, she can think only of her longed-for reunion with her husband Michal, who was sent there six months earlier.

But when Eva arrives at Auschwitz, there is no sign of Michal and the stark reality of the camp comes crashing down upon her. As she lies heartbroken and shivering on a thin mattress, her head shaved by rough hands, she hears a whisper. Her bunkmate, Sofie, is reaching out her hand…

As the days pass, the two women learn each other’s hopes and dreams – Eva’s is that she will find Michal alive in this terrible place, and Sofie’s is that she will be reunited with her son Tomas, over the border in an orphanage in Austria. Sofie sees the chance to engineer one last meeting between Eva and Michal and knows she must take it even if means befriending the enemy…

But when Eva realizes she is pregnant, she fears she has endangered both their lives. The women promise to protect each other’s children, should the worst occur. For they are determined to hold on to the last flower of hope in the shadows and degradation: their precious children, who they pray will live to tell their story when they no longer can.

Review:

Evocative, tragic, and heartrending!

The Child of Auschwitz is an immersive, affecting tale set during WWII that takes you into the lives of two young Jewish women, Eva and Sofie, as they do whatever it takes to help each other survive life in the Auschwitz concentration camp in order to one day reunite with the people that have kept their fighting spirits alive, Eva’s husband Michal and Sofie’s son Tomas.

The prose is insightful and authentic. The characters are resilient, caring, and brave. And the plot is a poignant, memorable tale of life, loss, love, family, sacrifice, courage, survival, selflessness, the inconceivable horrors of war, and the special bonds of friendship.

Overall, The Child of Auschwitz is a harrowing, hopeful, moving tale by Graham inspired by true-life events that are a haunting reminder of a time in history when millions endured unimaginable cruelty and needlessly suffered and and yet still managed to have the capacity for compassion and love.

This novel is available now.

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

         

 

 

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

 

About Lily Graham

Lily Graham is the author of the bestselling, The Child of Auschwitz, The Paris Secret, and The Island Villa, among others. Her books have been translated into numerous languages, including French, Italian, Polish, Portuguese and Turkish.

She grew up in South Africa, and was a journalist for a decade before giving it up to write fiction full time. Her first three novels were lighter, women's fiction, but when she wrote The Island Villa, a story about a secret Jewish community living on the tiny island of Formentera during the Spanish Inquisition, she switched to historical fiction and hasn't quite looked back since.

She lives now in the Suffolk coast with her husband and English bulldog, Fudge.

Website | Goodreads | Instagram

#BookReview The Rebel and the Rake by Emily Sullivan @readforeverpub @grandcentralpub #ReadForever #ReadForeverPub #ReadForever2022 #TheRebelandtheRake #EmilySullivan #LeagueofScoundrelsSeries

Published on by ZoeLeave a comment
#BookReview The Rebel and the Rake by Emily Sullivan @readforeverpub @grandcentralpub #ReadForever #ReadForeverPub #ReadForever2022 #TheRebelandtheRake #EmilySullivan #LeagueofScoundrelsSeries Title: The Rebel and the Rake

Author: Emily Sullivan

Series: League of Scoundrels #2

Published by: Forever on Dec. 28, 2021

Genres: Historical Romance

Pages: 337

Format: Paperback

Source: Forever

Book Rating: 9/10

He holds her fate in his hands—she holds his heart in hers.

Rafe Davies might seem like just another charismatic rake, but in reality, he is one of the crown’s most valuable agents. As relentless as he is reckless, Rafe has never come upon a mission he couldn’t complete. But when he encounters the intriguing-yet-prickly lady’s companion Miss Sylvia Sparrow while on assignment at a Scottish house party, he finds himself thoroughly distracted by the secretive beauty.

Though most women would be thrilled to catch the eye of a tall, dark, and dangerously handsome man, Sylvia is through with that sort of adventure. She trusted the wrong man once and paid for it dearly. The fiery bluestocking is resolved to avoid Rafe, until a chance encounter between them reveals the normally irreverent man’s unexpected depths—and an attraction that’s impossible to ignore. But when Sylvia begins to suspect she isn’t the only one harboring a few secrets, she realizes that Rafe may pose a risk to far more than her heart . . .

Light, captivating, and entertaining!

The Rebel and the Rake is a mysterious, engaging tale set in Scotland during 1897 that features the sassy, distrustful Sylvia Sparrow who, after being disgraced and left brokenhearted because of her progressive thinking in the past, reluctantly finds herself in need of a little help from the one man, the debonair son of an Earl and spy for the crown, Rafe Davies who seems to be hiding more than one secret of his own.

The prose is fluid and light. The characters are charming, passionate, and endearing. And the plot is an engaging mix of societal expectations, tricky situations, scheming behaviour, friendship, desire, deception, scandal, subterfuge, tender moments, witty banter, chemistry, and romance.

Overall, The Rebel and the Rake is an enticing, amusing, delightful read by Sullivan that is the second novel in the League of Scoundrels series, that in my opinion, shouldn’t be missed.

 

This novel is available now.

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

                 

 

 

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

 

About Emily Sullivan

Emily Sullivan is an award-winning author of historical romance set in the late Victorian period. Her love of romance first began when she was an angsty, tortured teenager, but now she prefers stories with a HEA. She has both a BA and MA in English and her writing has been featured in a variety of print and online publications, including The Southampton Review and The Toast. When she isn’t writing or reading, she enjoys planning fantasy trips abroad, watching every costume drama on Netflix, and working her way through Faber and Faber’s Adult Piano Adventures, which is not as racy as it sounds.

Website | Goodreads | Instagram | Pinterest

#BookReview The Maid by Nita Prose @NitaProse @PenguinCanada #TheMaid #NitaProse #PenguinCanada

Published on by Zoe2 Comments
#BookReview The Maid by Nita Prose @NitaProse @PenguinCanada #TheMaid #NitaProse #PenguinCanada Title: The Maid

Author: Nita Prose

Published by: Viking on Jan. 4, 2022

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 304

Format: Paperback

Source: Penguin Random House Canada

Book Rating: 9/10

Molly Gray is not like everyone else. She struggles with social skills and misreads the intentions of others. Her gran used to interpret the world for her, codifying it into simple rules that Molly could live by.

Since Gran died a few months ago, twenty-five-year-old Molly has been navigating life’s complexities all by herself. No matter—she throws herself with gusto into her work as a hotel maid. Her unique character, along with her obsessive love of cleaning and proper etiquette, make her an ideal fit for the job. She delights in donning her crisp uniform each morning, stocking her cart with miniature soaps and bottles, and returning guest rooms at the Regency Grand Hotel to a state of perfection.

But Molly’s orderly life is upended the day she enters the suite of the infamous and wealthy Charles Black, only to find it in a state of disarray and Mr. Black himself dead in his bed. Before she knows what’s happening, Molly’s unusual demeanor has the police targeting her as their lead suspect. She quickly finds herself caught in a web of deception, one she has no idea how to untangle. Fortunately for Molly, friends she never knew she had unite with her in a search for clues to what really happened to Mr. Black—but will they be able to find the real killer before it’s too late?

A Clue-like, locked-room mystery and a heartwarming journey of the spirit, The Maid explores what it means to be the same as everyone else and yet entirely different—and reveals that all mysteries can be solved through connection to the human heart.

Review:

Atmospheric, suspenseful, and delightfully entertaining!

The Maid is a clue-like murder mystery that takes you into the life of Molly Gray, a socially awkward, dedicated maid extraordinaire who, after stumbling upon the body of a loyal guest in one of her rooms, gets embroiled in a murder investigation that’s a little more complex than it originally appears, and for which she may need a little help from some of her friends on staff to help her solve the case and clear her name.

The writing style is witty and light. The characters are quirky, endearing, and well-developed. And the plot is a compelling, pacey whodunit full of amateur sleuthing, red herrings, suspects, deduction, attraction, new beginnings, and tender moments.

The Maid is a debut novel for Prose, and if you enjoy a charming mystery with unique characters you can’t get enough of and a touch of romance, then this is the perfect novel for you. It’s a fun, quick, enjoyable tale by Prose, and you can be sure I will be first in line to read whatever she manages to come 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 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.

Website | Goodreads | Instagram