#BookReview Anxious People by Fredrik Backman @Backmanland @AtriaBooks @SimonSchusterCA #AnxiousPeople #FredrikBackman

#BookReview Anxious People by Fredrik Backman @Backmanland @AtriaBooks @SimonSchusterCA #AnxiousPeople #FredrikBackman Title: Anxious People

Author: Fredrik Backman

Published by: Atria Books on Sep. 28, 2020

Genres: General Fiction

Pages: 352

Format: Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 10/10

This is a poignant comedy about a crime that never took place, a would-be bank robber who disappears into thin air, and eight extremely anxious strangers who find they have more in common than they ever imagined.

Viewing an apartment normally doesn’t turn into a life-or-death situation, but this particular open house becomes just that when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes everyone in the apartment hostage. As the pressure mounts, the eight strangers slowly begin opening up to one another and reveal long-hidden truths.

As police surround the premises and television channels broadcast the hostage situation live, the tension mounts and even deeper secrets are slowly revealed. Before long, the robber must decide which is the more terrifying prospect: going out to face the police, or staying in the apartment with this group of impossible people.


Review:

Thought-provoking, heartbreaking, and exceptionally witty!

Anxious People is a complex, insightful, funny story set on the day before New Year’s Eve that takes you on a journey into the lives of an amateur bank robber, eight unintended hostages, and two police officers with a history of their own.

The prose is amusing and poignant. The characterization is well-drawn with a whole slew of characters that are quirky, sympathetic, and endearing. And the plot is a delightfully clever blend of moral dilemmas, drama, tragedy, skewed perception, oddball shenanigans, relationship dynamics, unlikely friendships, and the importance of compassion.

Overall, Anxious People is an impactful, touching, darkly comedic tale by Backman that once again highlights his innate ability to delve into and expose both society’s weaknesses and ridiculous presumptions and humanities flaws and vulnerabilities in an enlightening, meaningful, and entertaining way.

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

 

About Fredrik Backman

Fredrik Backman is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove (soon to be a major motion picture starring Tom Hanks), My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, Britt-Marie Was Here, Beartown, Us Against You, as well as two novellas, And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer and The Deal of a Lifetime. His books are published in more than forty countries. He lives in Stockholm, Sweden, with his wife and two children.

#BookReview The River Home by Hannah Richell @hannahrichell @HarperPerennial #The RiverHome #HarperPerennial #HannahRichell #OliveInfluencer

#BookReview The River Home by Hannah Richell @hannahrichell @HarperPerennial #The RiverHome #HarperPerennial #HannahRichell #OliveInfluencer Title: The River Home

Author: Hannah Richell

Published by: Harper Paperbacks on Aug. 4, 2020

Genres: Women's Fiction

Pages: 368

Format: Paperback

Source: Harper Perennial

Book Rating: 9/10

From beloved international bestselling author Hannah Richell comes a spellbinding novel about the secrets brought to the surface when a large family gathers for a wedding.

Can the damage of the past ever be healed?

In their ramshackle Somerset home, with its lush gardens running down to the river, the Sorrells have gathered for a last-minute wedding—an occasion that is met with trepidation by each member of the family.

Lucy, the bride, has begged her loved ones to attend—not telling them that she has some important news to share once they’ve gathered. Her prodigal baby sister, Margot, who left home after a devastating argument with their mother, reluctantly agrees, though their family home is the site of so much pain for her. Meanwhile, their eldest sister, Eve, has thrown herself into a tailspin planning the details of the wedding—anything to distract herself from how her own life is unraveling—and their long-separated artist parents are forced to play the roles of cheerful hosts through gritted teeth.

As the Sorrells come together for a week of celebration and confrontation, their painful memories are revisited and their relationships stretched to the breaking point.

Moving, poignant, and unforgettable, The River Home showcases once again Hannah Richell’s talent for creating characters readers can relate to—and telling stories that linger in the mind long after the final page.


Review:

Moving, mysterious, and absorbing!

The River Home is a pensive, compelling tale that sweeps you away to the Somerset fields and immerses you into the lives of the Sorrell family, especially three strong, young women, as they gather to celebrate, support, confront, communicate, repair relationships, and finally reveal secrets that could potentially change their lives forever.

The prose is smooth and expressive. The characters are genuine, troubled, and sympathetic. And the plot, including all the subplots, intertwine and unravel effortlessly into a heartfelt tale of life, love, loss, resilience, determination, acceptance, self-reflection, and all the intricate dynamics that exist between family members.

Overall, The River Home is an honest, sentimental, hopeful tale by Richell that does a beautiful job of reminding us that life is complicated and messy and even the smallest choices we make can often have far-reaching consequences.

This novel is available now.

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

            

 

 

Thank you to Harper Perennial for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Hannah Richell

Before I became a writer, I worked in the publishing and film industries marketing books and movies. I began to write in 2007 while pregnant with my first child. The result was Secrets of the Tides, which was picked for the 2012 Richard & Judy Book Club, the Waterstones Book Club and was shortlisted for the Australian Independent Bookseller Best Debut Fiction Award, ABIA General Fiction Book of the Year (2013) and ABIA Newcomer of the Year (2013).

Since then I have written The Shadow Year (2013), The Peacock Summer (2018) and my latest novel, The River Home, which will be published in 2020. My work is available in twenty-two territories and has been translated into seventeen languages.

I have also written for a number of media outlets including Harper’s Bazaar, The Independent, Fairfax Media and Australian Women’s Weekly.

I am a dual citizen of the UK and Australia, though I currently live in the South West of England with my family.

Photograph by Claire Newman-Williams.

#BookReview The Residence by Andrew Pyper @andrewpyper @GalleryBooks @SimonSchusterCA @SkyboundBooks #TheResidence

#BookReview The Residence by Andrew Pyper @andrewpyper @GalleryBooks @SimonSchusterCA @SkyboundBooks #TheResidence Title: The Residence

Author: Andrew Pyper

Published by: Gallery Books on Sep. 1, 2020

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 352

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 8/10

In this terrifying ghost story based on true events, the President’s late son haunts the White House, threatening all who live in it—and the divided America beyond its walls. From the bestselling author of The Homecoming.

The year is 1853. President-elect Franklin Pierce is traveling with his family to Washington, DC, when tragedy strikes. In an instant, their train runs off the rails, violently flinging passengers about the cabin. When the great iron machine finally comes to rest, the only casualty is the Pierces’ son, Bennie. The loss sends First Lady Jane Pierce into mourning, and casts Franklin’s presidency under a pall of sorrow and grief.

As the Pierces move into the White House, they are soon plagued by events both bizarre and disturbing. Strange sounds seem to come from the walls and ceiling, ghostly voices echo out of time itself, and visions of spirits crushed under the weight of American history pass through empty hallways. But when Jane orchestrates a séance with the infamous Fox Sisters—the most noted Spiritualists of the day—the barrier between this world and the next is torn asunder. Something horrific comes through and takes up residence alongside Franklin and Jane in the very walls of the mansion itself.

Only by overcoming their grief and confronting their darkest secrets can Jane and Franklin hope to rid themselves—and America—of the entity that seeks to make the White House its permanent home.


Review:

Eerie, intense, and sinister!

In this latest novel by Pyper, The Residence, we are transported to the White House during 1852 and into the life of the newly-elected President Franklin Pierce has he struggles with the recent loss of his 11-year-old son, a wife enveloped by sorrow, a nation fractured and heading towards war, and one special room where grief is in abundance and terror seems to like to come and play.

The prose is dark and ominous. The characters are tormented, desperate, and troubled. And the plot is a horrifying, gripping tale interwoven and steeped in the supernatural that’s full of familial drama, heartache, tension, obsession, secrets, death, hopelessness, and violence.

Overall, The Residence is a unique, dark, spooky tale that captivates from the very first page and ultimately leaves you mystified, chilled, and creepily entertained.

 

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

 

About Andrew Pyper

Andrew Pyper is the author of nine novels, including the forthcoming THE HOMECOMING (February 2019). Among his previous books, THE DEMONOLOGIST won the International Thriller Writers award for Best Hardcover Novel and was selected for the Globe and Mail’s Best 100 Books of 2013 and Amazon’s 20 Best Books of 2013. LOST GIRLS won the Arthur Ellis Award and was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Three of Pyper’s novels, including THE HOMECOMING, are in active development for television or feature film. He lives in Toronto.

#BookReview The Paris Children by Gloria Goldreich @Sourcebooks #TheParisChildren #GloriaGoldreich

#BookReview The Paris Children by Gloria Goldreich @Sourcebooks #TheParisChildren #GloriaGoldreich Title: The Paris Children

Author: Gloria Goldreich

Published by: Sourcebooks Landmark on Sep. 1, 2020

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 432

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: Sourcebooks Landmark

Book Rating: 9/10

Inspired by the true story of one woman’s fight to survive during the 20th century’s darkest hour

Paris, 1935. A dark shadow falls over Europe as Adolf Hitler’s regime gains momentum, leaving the city of Paris on the brink of occupation. Young Madeleine Levy—granddaughter of Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish World War I hero—steps bravely into a new wave of resistance and becomes the guardian of lost children.

When Madeleine meets a small girl in a tattered coat with the hollow look of one forced to live a nightmare—a young Jewish refugee from Germany named Anna—she knows that she cannot stand idly by. Paris is full of children like Anna—frightened and starving, innocent casualties of a war barely begun. Madeleine offers them comfort and strength while working with other members of the resistance to smuggle them into safer territories. But as the Paris she loves is transformed into a theater of tension and hatred, many people are tempted to abandon the cause—and the country. And amidst the impending horror and doubt, Madeleine’s relationship with Claude, a young Jewish Resistance fighter, as passionate about saving vulnerable children as she is, deepens. With a questionable future ahead of them, all Madeleine can do is continue fighting and hope that her spirit—and the nation’s—won’t be broken.

A remarkable, paranoramic novel, The Paris Children is a story of love and tragedy that illuminates the power of hope and courage in the face of adversity.


Review:

Absorbing, haunting, and deeply moving!

The Paris Children is a compelling, immersive, beautifully written tale set in France between 1935 and 1943 that takes you into the lives of the Levy family, especially Madeleine, a young Jewish woman who spent the majority of the war helping to hide and save as many Jewish children as possible.

The prose is authentic and perceptive. The characters are selfless, brave, and vulnerable. And the plot is a rich, poignant tale of life, loss, love, friendship, family, perseverance, survival, betrayal, courage, sacrifice, Jewish traditions, war, and the important role played by the Jewish scouts in the French Resistance.

Overall, The Paris Children is a beautiful blend of horrifying facts and evocative fiction. It’s a pensive, affecting, powerful tale by Goldreich that highlights humanities incredible ability to love and still be kind, compassionate, and resilient even in the face of unimaginable evil.

This novel 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 Gloria Goldreich

Gloria Goldreich graduated from Brandeis University and did graduate work in Jewish history at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She was a coordinator in the Department of Jewish Education at National Hadassah and served as Public Relations Director of the Baruch College of the City University of New York.

While still an undergraduate at Brandeis, she was a winner of the Seventeen magazine short story contest where her first nationally published work appeared. Subsequently, her short fiction and critical essays have appeared in Commentary, McCalls, Redbook, Ladies Home Journal, Mademoiselle, Ms., Chatelaine, Hadassah Magazine and numerous other magazines and journals. Her work has been widely anthologized and translated.

She is the author of a series of children's books on women in the professions entitled What Can She Be? She has also written novels for young adults, Ten Traditional Jewish Stories, and she edited a prize-winning anthology A Treasury of Jewish Literature.

Her novel, Leah's Journey won the National Jewish Book Award for fiction in 1979, and her second novel Four Days won the Federation Arts and Letters Award. Her other novels include Promised Land, This Burning Harvest, Leah's Children, West to Eden, Mothers, Years of Dreams and That Year of Our War. Her books have been selections of the Book of the Month Club, the Literary Guild and the Troll Book Club.

She has lectured throughout the United States and in Canada.

Gloria Goldreich is married to an attorney and is the mother of two daughters and a son, and the grandmother of six grandchildren.

#BookReview Wedding Bells for Woolworths by Elaine Everest @ElaineEverest @PGCBooks @panmacmillan #Woolworths

#BookReview Wedding Bells for Woolworths by Elaine Everest @ElaineEverest @PGCBooks @panmacmillan #Woolworths Title: Wedding Bells for Woolworths

Author: Elaine Everest

Series: Woolworths #5

Published by: Pan Macmillan on Jun. 22, 2020

Genres: Historical Fiction, Women's Fiction

Pages: 384

Format: Paperback

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 8/10

Wedding Bells for Woolworths is the latest installment in Elaine Everest”s much-loved series, following A Gift from Woolworths.

July 1947. Britain is still gripped by rationing, even as the excitement of Princess Elizabeth”s engagement sweeps the nation. In the Woolworths” canteen, Freda is still dreaming of meeting her own Prince Charming. So far she”s been unlucky in love. When she has an accident on her motorbike, knocking a cyclist off his bicycle, it seems bad luck is still following her around. Anthony is not only a fellow Woolworths employee but has been an Olympic hopeful. Will his broken leg heal in time for him to compete? Can he ever forgive Freda?

Sarah”s idyllic family life is shattered when her seven-year-old daughter, Georgina, contracts polio and her time is spent at the hospital willing her child to recover. Freda steps in to help Sarah”s husband care for the home and their younger child, Buster.

The friends must rally round to face some of the toughest challenges of their lives together. And although they experience loss, hardship and shocks along the way, love is on the horizon for the Woolworths girls…


Review:

Quaint, sentimental, and cosy!

Wedding Bells for Woolworths is a sentimental, uplifting tale that takes us back to the small town of Crayford, England post-WWII and into the lives of all the characters we’ve come to know and love over the previous four novels as they once again tackle sticky situations, celebrate special moments, pull together to handle mayhem makers with sinister intent, welcome new arrivals, and say goodbye to a hero.

The writing is sweet and tender. The characters are multilayered, kind, and helpful. And the plot is a delightful mix of life, loss, love, family, heartbreak, gossip, community, and friendship.

Overall, Wedding Bells for Woolworths is a heartwarming, charming, nostalgic addition to the Woolworths series by Everest that does a wonderful job of reminding us of the importance and impact of one of the most iconic mass-market retailers of the twentieth century.

 

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

 

About Elaine Everest

Elaine was born and brought up in North West Kent, where many of her Sunday Times bestselling historical sagas are set. She has been a freelance writer for twenty-three years and has written widely for women's magazines and national newspapers, with short stories, serials and features. Her non-fiction books for dog owners have been very popular and led to broadcasting on radio about our four-legged friends. Elaine has been heard discussing many topics on radio including her Kent based novels, canine subjects, and living with a husband under her feet! She was BBC Radio Kent’s short story writer of the year, a runner up for The Harry Bowling Prize, and winner of Myrmidon Books novel writing competition.

When she isn't writing, Elaine runs The Write Place, her successful creative writing school in Hextable, Kent. She hopes one day soon to have another old English Sheepdog and still keeps in touch with many of her dear friends from her days in the show ring.

Elaine lives in Swanley, Kent with her husband, Michael, and their Polish Lowland Sheepdog, Henry.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Website.

#BookReview A Duke to Die For (The Rogues’ Dynasty #1) by Amelia Grey @SourcebooksCasa #ADuketoDieFor #AmeliaGrey

#BookReview A Duke to Die For (The Rogues’ Dynasty #1) by Amelia Grey @SourcebooksCasa #ADuketoDieFor #AmeliaGrey Title: A Duke to Die For

Author: Amelia Grey

Series: The Rogues Dynasty

Published by: Sourcebooks Casablanca on Aug. 25, 2020

Genres: Historical Romance

Pages: 384

Format: Paperback

Source: Sourcebooks Casablanca

Book Rating: 8/10

Henrietta doesn’t want a husband… Miss Henrietta Tweed is convinced that she carries a curse―one that’s responsible for killing her previous guardians. So when she’s sent to Lucien Trent Blakewell, the fifth Duke of Blakewell and the last man her father trusted to care for her, she knows the only way to save the duke is to persuade him to sign over her inheritance and set her free.

Does she? Lucien doesn’t believe there’s a curse and just wants to get his new ward off his hands by finding her a suitable husband. But as the chemistry between him and Henrietta grows, he is increasingly tempted to fill that role himself. And when suspicious accidents begin to endanger the Duke’s life, Henrietta must take drastic measures to save the one man she could love…


Review:

Spirited, alluring, and witty!

A Duke to Die For is set in London during the early 1800s and features the bold, feisty,   Henrietta Tweed who after her previous five guardians have passed, possibly due to a childhood curse, finds herself under the care and the ward of the roguishly handsome, fifth Duke of Blakewell, Lucien Trent.

The prose is authentic and mischievous. The characters are confident, daring, and endearing. And the plot is an amusing blend of mystique, attraction, regency lifestyle, desire, yearning, gossip, tricky situations, danger, and titillating romance.

Overall, A Duke to Die For is adventurous, enticing, and delightfully steamy. It’s the first book in The Rogues’ Dynasty series by Grey and is a wonderful choice for anyone who enjoys the historical romance genre.

 

This novel is available now.

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

                 

 

 

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

 

About Amelia Grey

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Amelia Grey read her first romance book when she was thirteen and she's been a devoted reader of love stories ever since. Her awards include the Booksellers Best, Aspen Gold, and the Golden Quill. Writing as Gloria Dale Skinner, she won the coveted Romantic Times Award for Love and Laughter, and the prestigious Maggie Award. Her books have sold to many countries in Europe, Indonesia, Turkey, Russia, and Japan. Several of her books have also been featured in Doubleday and Rhapsody Book Clubs. Amelia is the author of more than twenty-five books, including the Heirs' Club trilogy and the Rakes of St. James series. She's been happily married to her high school sweetheart for over thirty-five years and she lives on the beautiful gulf coast of Northwest Florida.

Photograph by Marcia Reynolds.

#BookReview Make Mine a Cowboy (Meadow Valley #) by A.J. Pine @AJ_Pine @readforeverpub @grandcentralpub #ReadForever #Forever20 #AJPine #MeadowValley

#BookReview Make Mine a Cowboy (Meadow Valley #) by A.J. Pine @AJ_Pine @readforeverpub @grandcentralpub #ReadForever #Forever20 #AJPine #MeadowValley Title: Make Mine a Cowboy

Author: A.J. Pine

Series: Meadow Valley #2

Published by: Forever on Aug. 25, 2020

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 640

Format: Paperback

Source: Forever

Book Rating: 8.5/10

Dr. Charlotte North has no time for a player, not even one as tempting as Ben Callahan. Besides, Charlotte is only in Meadow Valley for a few months to help her grandmother. After that, it’s back to New York and the career she loves. But when her gram starts to meddle in her personal life, Charlotte knows just the man to help her out. Ben’s the perfect no-strings boyfriend, until Charlotte discovers that beneath that rugged, charming exterior lies a sweet and bighearted cowboy.

Ben Callahan is tired of people assuming he’s an immature playboy, so when the smart and sexy Charlotte asks him to be her pretend boyfriend, he jumps at the chance to show everyone that he’s changed his ways. Though he and Charlotte are calling their relationship fake, Ben’s heart says otherwise. Two months with Charlotte isn’t nearly enough. Will Ben be able to prove he’s worthy of her for real before their time together is up, or will she leave Meadow Valley—and him—forever?

Includes the bonus novel Hometown Cowboy by Sara Richardson!


Review:

Amusing, lighthearted, and sexy!

Make Mine a Cowboy is a heartwarming, fun-loving tale that takes you to Meadow Valley, CA and into the life of the compassionate, hardworking Charlotte North as she juggles a grandmother in need of assistance, a rewarding career back in New York, and a cowboy who’s slowly stealing her heart.

The writing is playful and tender. The characters are helpful, supportive, and loveable. And the plot is a delightful blend of heart, humour, family, friendship, introspection, attraction, community spirit, shameless flirting, romantic moments, and steamy chemistry.

Overall, Make Mine a Cowboy is a sweet, entertaining, effortless tale by Pine that’s the second novel in the Meadow Valley series but can certainly be read and enjoyed as a standalone novel.

 

This book is available now.

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

            

 

 

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

 

About A.J. Pine

A librarian for teens by day and a romance writer by night, A.J. Pine can’t seem to escape the world of fiction, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. When she finds that twenty-fifth hour in the day, she might indulge in a tiny bit of TV to nourish her undying love of vampires, superheroes, and a certain high-functioning sociopath detective. She hails from the far-off galaxy of the Chicago suburbs.

#BookReview Once in a Blue Moon (Blessings, Georgia #10) by Sharon Sala @SharonSala1 @SourcebooksCasa #OnceinaBlueMoon #SharonSala

#BookReview Once in a Blue Moon (Blessings, Georgia #10) by Sharon Sala @SharonSala1 @SourcebooksCasa #OnceinaBlueMoon #SharonSala Title: Once in a Blue Moon

Author: Sharon Sala

Series: Blessings Georgia #10

Published by: Sourcebooks Casablanca on Aug. 25, 2020

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 352

Format: Paperback

Source: Sourcebooks Casablanca

Book Rating: 8/10

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Sharon Sala continues the bestselling Blessings, Georgia series

Rancher Duke Talbot meets Cathy Terry in Blessings by chance. She’s new to town, and so grateful to be there—Blessings feels like a safe haven. Cathy is at first hesitant to let anyone get too close, but as their relationship grows and Cathy sees Duke’s feelings for her are real, she tells him what really brought her to town—an abusive ex-husband who isn’t willing to let her go. When her past starts to catch up with her, she’s tempted to keep running, but she’s fallen in love with Blessings and with Duke. Having finally found a place to call home, the only place Cathy wants to run is straight into Duke’s arms.


Review:

Cosy, charming, and engaging!

Once in a Blue Moon is a warm, lighthearted tale that takes you back to Blessings, Georgia and into the lives of Cathy Terry, a young woman on the run from her powerful, dangerous ex who isn’t content to just let her walk away with all his secrets, and the dependable, hardworking rancher, Duke Talbot who’s been too busy taking care of everyone else to find the time to make a family of his own.

The prose is fluid and smooth. The characters are kind, caring, and supportive. And the plot is a feel-good, uplifting tale with a sliver of mystery that’s full of life, love, friendship, community, family, romance, love, and intrigue.

Overall, Once in a Blue Moon is another sweet addition to the Blessings, Georgia series by Sala with its small-town charm, endearing characters, underlying thread of suspense, and reminder of how important it is to find a place to call home.

 

This novel is available now.

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

            

 

 

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

 

About Sharon Sala

Sharon Sala is a long-time member of RWA, as well as a member of OKRWA. She has 115 books and novellas in print, published in six different genres – Romance, Young Adult, Western, Fiction, and Women’s Fiction and Non-Fiction. First published in 1991, she’s an eight-time RITA finalist, winner of the Janet Dailey Award, five-time Career Achievement winner from RT Magazine, five time winner of the National Reader’s Choice Award, and five time winner of the Colorado Romance Writer’s Award of Excellence, winner of the Heart of Excellence Award, as well as winner of the Booksellers Best Award. In 2011 she was named RWA’s recipient of the Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2017 Romance Writers of America presented her with the Centennial Award for recognition of her 100th published novel. Her books are New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly best-sellers. Writing changed her life, her world, and her fate.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Twitter Profile.

#BookReview Here to Stay by Adriana Herrera @ladrianaherrera @CarinaPress @HarlequinBooks @Bookclubbish #HarlequinPublicityTeam #HeretoStay

#BookReview Here to Stay by Adriana Herrera @ladrianaherrera @CarinaPress @HarlequinBooks @Bookclubbish #HarlequinPublicityTeam #HeretoStay Title: Here to Stay

Author: Adriana Herrera

Published by: Carina Press on Aug. 25, 2020

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 393

Format: Paperback

Source: Harlequin Books

Book Rating: 8/10

Starting over is more about who you’re with than where you live…

Julia del Mar Ortiz is not having the best year.

She moved to Dallas with her boyfriend, who ended up ditching her and running back to New York after only a few weeks. Left with a massive—by NYC standards, anyway—apartment and a car lease in the scorching Texas heat, Julia is struggling…except that’s not completely true. Running the charitable foundation of one of the most iconic high fashion department stores in the world is serious #lifegoals.

It’s more than enough to make her want to stick it out down South.

The only monkey wrench in Julia’s plans is the blue-eyed, smart-mouthed consultant the store hired to take them public. Fellow New Yorker Rocco Quinn’s first order of business? Putting Julia’s job on the chopping block.

When Julia is tasked with making sure Rocco sees how valuable the programs she runs are, she’s caught between a rock and a very hard set of abs. Because Rocco Quinn is almost impossible to hate—and even harder to resist.


Review:

Heartfelt, playful, and enticing!

Here to Stay is a heartwarming, humorous tale that transports you to Dallas, Texas and into the lives of both Julia del Mar Ortiz, a kind, compassionate, Dominican-Puerto Rican woman who after being dumped shortly after relocating to Texas from Queens is more than happy putting all her time and effort into her dream job, running the charitable foundation for Sturm’s, and Rocco Quinn, an Italian-Irish, handsome, young man tasked with helping Sturm’s get ready to go public and potentially recommending chopping those parts of the company, such as their charitable foundation, that may be an unnecessary expense to the companies bottom line.

The writing is sensual and light. The characters are intelligent, kind, considerate, inclusive, and endearing. And the plot is a push-pull tale full of workplace drama, familial responsibility, witty banter, tender moments, expectations, goals, friendship, diversity, compromise, chemistry, and love.

Overall, Here to Stay is another sweet, passionate, satisfying novel by Herrera that’s more than just a typical enemies-to-more rom-com with its abundance of culture and tradition, social consciousness, and timely perspective.

 

This book is available on August 25, 2020.

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

      

 

 

Thank you to Harlequin Books – Carina Press for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Adriana Herrera

Adriana Herrera was born and raised in the Caribbean, but for the last 15 years has let her job (and her spouse) take her all over the world. She loves writing stories about people who look and sound like her people, getting unapologetic happy endings.

Her debut novel, American Dreamer, has been featured on Entertainment Weekly, NPR, the TODAY Show on NBC and was selected as one ALA Booklist's Top Ten Debut Romances of 2019.

When she's not dreaming up love stories, planning logistically complex vacations with her family or hunting for discount Broadway tickets, she’s a social worker in New York City, working with survivors of domestic and sexual violence.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Website.

#BookReview The Mountains Wild by Sarah Stewart Taylor @SSTaylorBooks @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #MinotaurInfluencers #TheMountainsWild

#BookReview The Mountains Wild by Sarah Stewart Taylor @SSTaylorBooks @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #MinotaurInfluencers #TheMountainsWild Title: The Mountains Wild

Author: Sarah Stewart Taylor

Published by: Minotaur Books on Jun. 23, 2020

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 416

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Minotaur Books

Book Rating: 8.5/10

In a series debut for fans of Tana French and Kate Atkinson, set in Dublin and New York, homicide detective Maggie D’arcy finally tackles the case that changed the course of her life.

Twenty-three years ago, Maggie D’arcy’s family received a call from the Dublin police. Her cousin Erin has been missing for several days. Maggie herself spent weeks in Ireland, trying to track Erin’s movements, working beside the police. But it was to no avail: no trace of her was ever found.

The experience inspired Maggie to become a cop. Now, back on Long Island, more than 20 years have passed. Maggie is a detective and a divorced mother of a teenager. When the Gardaí call to say that Erin’s scarf has been found and another young woman has gone missing, Maggie returns to Ireland, awakening all the complicated feelings from the first trip. The despair and frustration of not knowing what happened to Erin. Her attraction to Erin’s coworker, now a professor, who never fully explained their relationship. And her determination to solve the case, once and for all.

A lyrical, deeply drawn portrait of a woman – and a country – over two decades – The Mountains Wild introduces a compelling new mystery series from a mesmerizing author.


Review:

Intricate, menacing, and atmospheric!

The Mountains Wild is a sinister, slow-burning mystery that takes you into the life of Long Island homicide detective Maggie D’arcy as she heads back to Wicklow, Ireland where authorities believe they have uncovered a scarf belonging to her cousin who has been missing since 1993, and the time to find the latest victim of this potential serial killer alive is quickly dwindling.

The writing is methodical and vivid. The characters are flawed, driven, and determined. And the plot using a past/present, back-and-forth style is a captivating police procedural full of twists, turns, red herrings, familial drama, secrets, deception, relationship dynamics, malice, violence, and murder.

Overall, The Mountains Wild is an ominous, intriguing, immersive tale by Taylor that is a thoroughly enjoyable read and a fantastic start to this new Maggie D’arcy series.

 

This book is available now.

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

            

 

 

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

 

About Sarah Stewart Taylor

Sarah Stewart Taylor grew up on Long Island and was educated at Middlebury College and Trinity College, Dublin. She lives with her husband and three children on a farm in Vermont where they raise sheep and blueberries.

Sarah is the author of THE MOUNTAINS WILD, an atmospheric thriller about a Long Island homicide detective named Maggie D'Arcy who returns to Ireland twenty-three years after the unsolved disappearance of her beloved cousin Erin in the Wicklow Mountains. When a young woman disappears and new evidence from Erin’s case is found, Maggie will have to uncover the truth about the Irish man she's never stopped loving and, in order to help Irish police save the missing woman, the truth about who Erin was and what happened to her.

It will be published by Minotaur Books on June 23, 2020.

Sarah is also the author of the Sweeney St. George mystery series, about an art historian who studies funerary art, "the art of death," from Minotaur Books. The first book in the series, O’ Artful Death, was nominated for an Agatha Award for Best First Novel.

Her non-fiction has been published in The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, and many other publications.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.