Genre: Historical Fiction

#BlogTour #BookReview The Artist of Blackberry Grange by Paulette Kennedy @OverTheRiverPR @AmazonPub #TheArtistOfBlackberryGrange #PauletteKennedy #lakeunion #OTRPR

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#BlogTour #BookReview The Artist of Blackberry Grange by Paulette Kennedy @OverTheRiverPR @AmazonPub #TheArtistOfBlackberryGrange #PauletteKennedy #lakeunion #OTRPR Title: The Artist of Blackberry Grange

Author: Paulette Kennedy

Published by: Lake Union Publishing on May 1, 2025

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 351

Format: Paperback

Source: Amazon Publishing, OTRPR

Book Rating: 8.5/10

For a young caregiver in the Ozarks, an old house holds haunting memories in a ghostly novel about family secrets, sacrifice, and lost loves by the author of The Devil and Mrs. Davenport.

In the summer of 1925, the winds of change are particularly chilling for a young woman whose life has suddenly become unbalanced.

Devastated by her mother’s death and a cruel, broken engagement, Sadie Halloran learns that her great-aunt Marguerite, a renowned artist now in the throes of dementia, needs a live-in companion. Grasping at newfound purpose, Sadie leaves her desolate Kansas City boardinghouse for Blackberry Grange, Marguerite’s once-grand mansion sitting precariously atop an Arkansas bluff. Though Marguerite is a fading shell of the vibrant woman Sadie remembers, Marguerite is feverishly compelled to paint eerie, hallucinatory portraits of old lovers—some cherished, some regretted, and some beastly. All of them haunting.

With each passing night, time itself seems to shift with the shadows at Blackberry Grange. As truth and delusion begin to blur, Sadie must uncover the secrets that hold Marguerite captive to her past before reality—and Marguerite’s life—slips away entirely.

Review:

Dark, creative, and mysterious!

The Artist of Blackberry Grange is an eerie, captivating tale that transports you to Arkansas during 1925 and into the lives of two main characters. Sadie Halloran, a young woman who, after the end of an engagement leaves her on the edge of destitution, decides to take on the role of caregiver for her failing, affluent great-aunt, and Marguerite, an elderly woman who, as she nears the end of her life has an abundance of long-buried secrets to share, including a strange and frightening teether to those in the afterlife.

The prose is tight and gritty. The characters are vulnerable, independent, and troubled. And the plot is a menacing tale about life, loss, tragedy, desperation, lies, manipulation, familial drama, secrets, supernatural phenomena, and love.

Overall, The Artist of Blackberry Grange is an intriguing, gothic, tense novel by Kennedy that does a wonderful job of interweaving historical times and compelling fiction into a suspenseful mystery that is deliciously atmospheric and highly entertaining.

 

This novel is available now.

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

     

 

 

Thank you to OTRPR and Amazon Publishing for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Paulette Kennedy

Paulette Kennedy is the bestselling author of The Devil and Mrs. Davenport, The Witch of Tin Mountain, and Parting the Veil, which received the HNS Review Editor’s Choice Award. She has had a lifelong obsession with the gothic. As a young girl, she spent her summers among the gravestones in her neighborhood cemetery, imagining all sorts of romantic stories for the people buried there. After her mother introduced her to the Brontës as a teenager, her affinity for fog-covered landscapes and haunted heroines only grew, inspiring her to become a writer. Originally from the Missouri Ozarks, she now lives with her family and a menagerie of rescue pets in sunny Southern California, where sometimes, on the very best days, the mountains are wreathed in fog. As a history lover, she can get lost for days in her research—learning everything she can about the places in her novels and what her characters might have experienced in the past.

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#BookReview Finding Flora by Elinor Florence @SimonSchusterCA #Finding Flora #ElinorFlorence #SimonSchusterCA

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#BookReview Finding Flora by Elinor Florence @SimonSchusterCA #Finding Flora #ElinorFlorence #SimonSchusterCA Title: Finding Flora

Author: Elinor Florence

Published by: Simon & Schuster on Apr. 1, 2025

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 384

Format: Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 9/10

A rollicking historical novel set in turn-of-the-century Alberta about a young woman on the run from her abusive husband who uses a legal loophole to claim a homestead in the Wild West—perfect for fans of Outlawed and Giver of Stars.

In 1905, Scottish newcomer Flora Craigie jumps from a moving train to escape her abusive husband. Desperate to disappear, she claims a homestead near Alix, Alberta, determined to start a new life for herself. She finds that her nearest neighbours are also a Welsh widow with three children; two American women raising chickens; and a Métis woman who makes a living by breaking in wild horses.

While battling the harsh environment (and draconian local attitudes toward female farmers), the five women grapple with the differences of their backgrounds and the secrets each struggles to keep. When their homes are threatened with expropriation by the hostile federal Minister of the Interior, the women join forces to “fire the heather,” a Scottish term meaning raising a ruckus. And as the competition for land along the new Canadian Pacific railway line heats up, Flora’s violent husband closes in, and an unscrupulous land agent threatens the lives and livelihoods of the women just as they’re coming into their own.

Review:

Enthralling, moving, and authentic!

Finding Flora is an absorbing tale that sweeps you away to Alberta during the early 1900s and into the life of Flora Craigie, a young Scottish bride who, after discovering her husband’s true nature, jumps from a moving train as it crosses the Canadian prairies and endeavours to start a new life by working the unforgiving land and surviving the harsh weather, in the hopes of ultimately claiming a homestead of her own.

The writing is eloquent and expressive. The characters are resilient, devoted, and strong. And the plot is a harrowing tale about life, loss, hope, family, female friendships, secrets, hardship, trust, violence, murder, and love.

Overall, Finding Flora is a beautifully written, well-researched, atmospheric novel by Florence that reminds us not only of the rugged beauty of this land we call home but also of the extraordinary women who sacrificed to pave the way for the rights and freedoms we have today.

 

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 Elinor Florence

Elinor Florence grew up on a Saskatchewan farm and earned degrees in English and journalism. She worked for newspapers in all four Western provinces, spent eight years writing for Reader’s Digest Canada, and even published her own award-winning community newspaper. Her first novel, Bird’s Eye View, was a national bestseller, while the second, Wildwood, was named one of Kobo’s Hundred Most Popular Canadian Books of All Time. Finding Flora was inspired by her own Scottish homesteading and Indigenous ancestors. She is a member of the Métis Nation of British Columbia and makes her home in the mountain resort of Invermere.

Photograph credit Kelsey.

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#BookReview The Resistance Painter by Kath Jonathan @SimonSchusterCA #TheResistancePainer #KathJonathan #SimonSchusterCA

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#BookReview The Resistance Painter by Kath Jonathan @SimonSchusterCA #TheResistancePainer #KathJonathan #SimonSchusterCA Title: The Resistance Painter

Author: Kath Jonathan

Published by: Simon & Schuster on Mar. 25, 2025

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Historical Fiction

Pages: 448

Format: Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 9/10

An evocative work of historical fiction, examining the little-known story of Poland’s extraordinary WW ll resistance army and the contemporary lives of two artists, grandmother and granddaughter, inextricably linked by a wartime betrayal.

Warsaw 1939. Irena Marianowska’s dreams of attending art school in Paris are crushed when the Nazis invade Poland. Instead, she joins the Home Army and, together with her resistance cell, risks her life guiding people to safety through the sewers of Warsaw. In 1942, after a harrowing mission, she returns home to learn that her sister, Lotka, has been abducted by the Gestapo. In her search for Lotka, Irena encounters a host of characters who lead her into greater danger.

Toronto 2010. Jo Blum lives in Toronto with her beloved grandmother, a lauded painter of WWII and a decorated war hero. Jo has a budding career creating sculptures for grave sites based on the life stories of her dying clients. Her recorded interviews with Stefan, her new Polish client, unveil an heroic wartime past eerily similar to her grandmother’s. But Jo’s quest to uncover the truth about Stefan and her grandmother opens an explosive Pandora’s box whose shockwaves threaten everything she’s known about her family.

Review:

Immersive, hopeful, and heart-wrenching!

The Resistance Painter is a poignant, dual-timeline tale set in Poland during WWII, as well as Toronto in 2010, that takes you into the lives of two main characters. Irena Marianowska, a young woman who, after her dream of attending art school is destroyed due to German invasion, endeavours to help the Polish Resistance in any way she can, and Jo Blum, a creative grave sculptor who, after a new client’s past seems eerily familiar, is resolved to discover all the details and truth about her own grandmother’s past.

The prose is atmospheric and authentic. The characters are vulnerable, brave, and strong. And the plot is an evocative, vivid tale of life, loss, love, family, friendship, grief, perseverance, selflessness, suffering, art, the unimaginable horrors of war, and the importance of sewers during wartime in transporting people to safety.

Overall, The Resistance Painter is an insightful, emotional, beautifully written debut by Jonathan inspired by real-life familial events that reminds us that survival of any kind often involves heartbreaking choices, moral dilemmas, action, spirit, extreme loss and, beyond all else, unimaginable sacrifice and courage.

 

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 Kath Jonathan

A resident of Toronto, Kath Jonathan is a poetry, short story, and novel writer. Her work has been shortlisted for the Marina Nemat Award, a finalist for The Janice Colbert Poetry Award, longlisted for the Puritan’s Thomas Morton Memorial Prize for short story, published in a Penguin Random House chapbook and in online literary magazines. Kath holds a Certificate in creative writing and an MA in English literature, both from the University of Toronto.

Photograph by Marion Voysey.

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#BookReview The Indigo Girl by Natasha Boyd @BlackstoneAudio #NatashaBoyd #TheIndigoGirl #BlackstonePublishing #BlackstoneInsiders

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#BookReview The Indigo Girl by Natasha Boyd @BlackstoneAudio #NatashaBoyd #TheIndigoGirl #BlackstonePublishing #BlackstoneInsiders Title: The Indigo Girl

Author: Natasha Boyd

Published by: Blackstone Publishing on Oct. 3, 2017

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 329

Format: Hardcover

Source: Blackstone Publishing

Book Rating: 9/10

An incredible story of dangerous and hidden friendships, ambition, betrayal, and sacrifice.

The year is 1739. Eliza Lucas is sixteen years old when her father leaves her in charge of their family’s three plantations in rural South Carolina and then proceeds to bleed the estates dry in pursuit of his military ambitions. Tensions with the British, and with the Spanish in Florida, just a short way down the coast, are rising, and slaves are starting to become restless. Her mother wants nothing more than for their South Carolina endeavor to fail so they can go back to England. Soon her family is in danger of losing everything.

Upon hearing how much the French pay for indigo dye, Eliza believes it’s the key to their salvation. But everyone tells her it’s impossible, and no one will share the secret to making it. Thwarted at nearly every turn, even by her own family, Eliza finds that her only allies are an aging horticulturalist, an older and married gentleman lawyer, and a slave with whom she strikes a dangerous deal: teach her the intricate thousand-year-old secret process of making indigo dye and in return — against the laws of the day — she will teach the slaves to read.

So begins an incredible story of love, dangerous and hidden friendships, ambition, betrayal, and sacrifice.

Based on historical documents, including Eliza’s letters, this is a historical fiction account of how a teenage girl produced indigo dye, which became one of the largest exports out of South Carolina, an export that laid the foundation for the incredible wealth of several Southern families who still live on today. Although largely overlooked by historians, the accomplishments of Eliza Lucas influenced the course of US history. When she passed away in 1793, President George Washington served as a pallbearer at her funeral.

This book is set between 1739 and 1744, with romance, intrigue, forbidden friendships, and political and financial threats weaving together to form the story of a remarkable young woman whose actions were before their time: the story of the indigo girl.

Review:

Immersive, evocative, and fascinating!

The Indigo Girl is an atmospheric, absorbing tale that sweeps you away to South Carolina during 1739 and into the life of Eliza Lucas, a sixteen-year-old girl who, after her father leaves her in charge of three of his plantations, endeavours to save her family estates through grit, determination and a little help from three others by producing the challenging, yet lucrative indigo dye.

The prose is eloquent and expressive. The characters are diligent, brave, and independent. And the plot is an absorbing tale of life, loss, love, friendship, familial drama, injustice, support, passion, betrayal, courage, and the ins and outs of indigo dye-making in the early eighteenth century.

Overall, The Indigo Girl is a compelling, rich, illuminating tale by Boyd that I absolutely devoured and which enthralled, entertained, and informed me!

 

This novel is available now.

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

        

 

 

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

 

About Natasha Boyd

Natasha Boyd is a USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling and award-winning author of contemporary romance, romantic comedy, and historical fiction. After hearing one of Eliza Lucas’s descendants speaking about Eliza’s accomplishments, the need to tell her story became so overwhelming that it couldn’t be ignored, and so The Indigo Girl was born. It was long-listed for the Southern Book Prize, was a SIBA Okra Pick, and a Texas Lariat Award winner. Natasha lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

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#BookReview The Only Light in London by Lily Graham @lilygrahambooks @GrandCentralPub #LilyGraham #TheOnlyLightInLondon #GCPInsider

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#BookReview The Only Light in London by Lily Graham @lilygrahambooks @GrandCentralPub #LilyGraham #TheOnlyLightInLondon #GCPInsider Title: The Only Light in London

Author: Lily Graham

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

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 272

Format: Paperback

Source: Grand Central Publishing

Book Rating: 8.5/10

She took him in when no one else would. She didn’t expect to fall in love…

London, 1939. When Finley offers her spare room to refugee Sebastien, she sees relief in his haunted eyes. Forced to flee the hatred in Germany, Sebastien has been desperately lonely in his adopted country. Finley lost her father in the last war and feels a stab of empathy for the pain of this thin stranger, separated from his loved ones, far away from home.

At first, Finley and Sebastien are like ships in the night, exchanging bashful goodnights in the corridor. But Finley quickly realises that Sebastien is too terrified to sleep, plagued by thoughts of his smiling little sister being snatched by soldiers. As the London sky darkens with enemy planes, he slowly opens up to her over cups of cocoa in the kitchen.

Every time Sebastien speaks to Finley, she finds herself inching closer to him, and soon love begins to grow. But when he tells her he wants to join the English army, to fight the people who have forced his family to face such horror, she must work hard to crush the devastation in her heart. She knows if she were in his shoes, she would do the same thing, and she must be brave too. She will stay in London, waiting for Sebastien, and helping other refugees like him.

As the bombs rain down, and the London streets empty, she knows she faces grave dangers. But she can’t hide away while the man she loves risks his life. She needs to do anything she can to defeat the enemy they all share. But the last war cost Finley so much. What will this one take?

A completely life-affirming and tear-jerking read about facing the darkness and despair of war together and allowing the light to creep in. Fans of The Nightingale and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society will fall in love with The Only Light in London.

Review:

Heartwarming, immersive, and uplifting!

The Only Light in London is a rich, moving tale set in London during WWII that takes you into the lives of Prudence Finley, a resilient, kindhearted aspiring actress and Jewish journalist Sebastien Raphael as they do whatever they can to entertain, protect, fight, and survive the war.

The prose is eloquent and expressive. The characters are brave, tormented, and determined. And the plot is a touching tale about life, loss, separation, desperation, tragedy, survival, love, community, and the power of friendship.

Overall, The Only Light in London is another well-written, tender, compelling tale by Graham that does a wonderful job of reminding us just how much hope and joy can be reaped from the little things in life and maybe even more importantly having 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 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.

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#BookReview All Our Beautiful Goodbyes by Julianne MacLean @FireflyDist @AmazonPub #AllOurBeautifulGoodbyes #JulianneMacLean #LakeUnion #FireflyDist

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#BookReview All Our Beautiful Goodbyes by Julianne MacLean @FireflyDist @AmazonPub #AllOurBeautifulGoodbyes #JulianneMacLean #LakeUnion #FireflyDist Title: All Our Beautiful Goodbyes

Author: Julianne MacLean

Published by: Lake Union Publishing on Mar. 25, 2025

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 366

Format: Paperback

Source: Firefly Distributed Lines

Book Rating: 9/10

1946: World War II is over, and Emma Clarkson is poised to take flight. With dreams of attending university, she’s ready to leave behind the wild beauty of Sable Island, the only home she’s ever known. But when a handsome British sea captain is rescued from a nearby shipwreck, her destiny is forever changed.

Emma falls deeply in love with Oliver Harris, but their romance is not meant to be. Oliver returns to the sea, while Emma vows to forget him and pursue her own ambitions. When a handsome veterinarian arrives on the island to study the wild horses, Emma finds love again, but soon discovers that all is not as it seems…

1995: Mourning the death of her beloved grandmother, Joanna Griffin is shocked to learn that her grandfather once loved a young woman named Emma, but lies, betrayals, and catastrophic events separated them forever. As Joanna crosses an ocean to solve the secrets of her grandfather’s past, she learns that love is a powerful force, even mightier than the passage of time…

A shining thread of hope illuminates this epic tale of lost love and fallen dreams, set in the remote splendor of Nova Scotia and spanning decades.

Review:

Moving, pensive, and absorbing!

All Our Beautiful Goodbyes is set on Sable Island, Nova Scotia, between 1946 and 1995 and is told from two different perspectives. Emma, a young woman who, after being born and raised on this isolated piece of land, is ready to spread her wings and head to the mainland for University until a shipwrecked captain captures her heart and changes the course of her life forever, and Oliver Harris, a British captain who is struggling with an unhappy marriage, his love for the sea, and a woman he only spent a brief amount of time with but one he can’t seem to forget.

The prose is rich and sentimental. The characters are passionate, strong, and flawed. And the plot is a touching tale about life, loss, heartache, forgiveness, familial drama, friendship, courage, hope, resilience, and the unbreakable ties that bind us to those we love.

Overall, All Our Beautiful Goodbyes is an enchanting, heart-tugging, beautiful read by MacLean that reminds us that life is complicated, messy, challenging, short, and heartbreaking, as well as all those other wonderful things, lovely times, and special moments that happen in between.

 

This novel is available now.

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

      

 

 

Thank you to Firefly Distributed Lines for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Julianne MacLean

Julianne MacLean is a USA Today bestselling author of more than thirty novels, including the contemporary women’s fiction Color of Heaven Series. Readers have described her books as “breathtaking,” “soulful” and “uplifting.” MacLean is a four-time Romance Writers of America RITA finalist and has won numerous awards, including the Booksellers’ Best Award and a Reviewers’ Choice Award from Romantic Times. Her novels have sold millions of copies worldwide and have been published in over a dozen languages.

MacLean has a degree in English literature from the University of King’s College in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and a degree in business administration from Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. She loves to travel and has lived in New Zealand, Canada, and England. MacLean currently resides on the east coast of Canada in a lakeside home with her husband and daughter.

Photo courtesy of Author's Website.

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#BookReview The Story She Left Behind by Patti Callahan Henry @pcalhenry @SimonSchusterCA @AtriaBooks #TheStorySheLeftBehind #PattiCallahanHenry #SimonSchusterCA

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#BookReview The Story She Left Behind by Patti Callahan Henry @pcalhenry @SimonSchusterCA @AtriaBooks #TheStorySheLeftBehind #PattiCallahanHenry #SimonSchusterCA Title: The Story She Left Behind

Author: Patti Callahan Henry

Published by: Atria Books on Mar. 18, 2025

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 352

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 9/10

The New York Times bestselling author of The Secret Book of Flora Lea returns with a novel spanning three generations of women about a famous lost book, a famous lost mother, and an artist searching for both.

In 1927, in Bluffton, South Carolina, a famous American—former child prodigy author Bronwyn Newcastle Fordham—disappears, abandoning her eight-year-old daughter and husband. She leaves behind a sequel to her children’s fantasy blockbuster about a young girl named Emjie who is caught between worlds. But the sequel is written in the author’s secret and untranslatable created language.

Now in 1952, Bronwyn’s lost words have been discovered in a private library in England by a man called Charlie Jameson. Bronwyn’s daughter, Clara Harrington, a children’s book illustrator and divorced mother of one, goes on a quest to England to retrieve the lost words of her mother, words she believes will translate the sequel and help her discover what happened and why her mother abandoned her. Clara takes along her own eight-year-old daughter, Winnie, who is precocious, funny, and wise, and who has an imaginary friend, also called Emjie, after her lost grandmother’s novel.

But when Clara and Wynnie sail to England, they arrive during one of London’s greatest natural disasters—the Great Smog. Wynnie is a fragile child with asthma and the air is deadly. Charlie Jameson helps them escape London and make their way to his family’s country home in the Lake District, where the tale unfolds in the wild and glorious landscape of Esthwaite Water and the land of Beatrix Potter. It is there that the tangled roots that tie Charlie and Clara together will be revealed, and the fate—not only of Emjie, but of Bronwyn herself—will come to light.

Review:

Compelling, heart-tugging, and immersive!

The Story She Left Behind is a sensitive, thoughtful tale that takes you back to 1952 and into the life of Clara Harrington, a young illustrator, who after being contacted about some of her mother’s long lost papers, travels from South Carolina to the countryside of England to finally unravel the words her mother left behind, and perhaps at long last discover what really happened all those years ago when her mother up and left and disappeared without a trace.

The writing is passionate and moving. The characters are stuck, wary, and wistful. And the plot, using flashbacks and a back-and-forth style, sweeps you away into an engaging, touching, heartfelt tale about life, loss, friendship, family, heartbreak, tragedy, regret, forgiveness, the magic of books, and love.

Overall, The Story She Left Behind is a charming, absorbing, atmospheric tale by Henry that I absolutely adored and which is a beautiful reminder of the power that words have to touch, heal, move, and provide hope.

 

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 Patti Callahan Henry

Patti Callahan Henry is a New York Times bestselling author of thirteen novels, including the upcoming BECOMING MRS. LEWIS – The Improbable Love Story of Joy Davidman and C.S. Lewis. A finalist in the Townsend Prize for Fiction, an Indie Next Pick, an OKRA pick, and a multiple nominee for the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA) Novel of the Year, Patti is a frequent speaker at luncheons, book clubs and women’s groups. The mother of three children, she now lives in both Mountain Brook, Alabama and Bluffton, South Carolina with her husband.

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#BookReview A Map to Paradise by Susan Meissner @BerkleyPub @PenguinRandomCA #AMapToParadise #SusanMeissner #Berkley #BerkleyPartner #PenguinReads

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#BookReview A Map to Paradise by Susan Meissner @BerkleyPub @PenguinRandomCA #AMapToParadise #SusanMeissner #Berkley #BerkleyPartner #PenguinReads Title: A Map to Paradise

Author: Susan Meissner

Published by: Berkley on Mar. 18, 2025

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 352

Format: Hardcover

Source: Berkley Publishing

Book Rating: 8.5/10

1956, Malibu, Something is not right on Paradise Circle.

With her name on the Hollywood blacklist and her life on hold, starlet Melanie Cole has little choice in company. There is her next-door neighbor, Elwood, but the screenwriter’s agoraphobia allows for just short chats through open windows. He’s her sole confidante, though, as she and her housekeeper, Eva, an immigrant from war-torn Europe, rarely make conversation.

Then one early morning Melanie and Eva spot Elwood’s sister-in-law and caretaker, June, digging in his beloved rose garden. After that they don’t see Elwood at all anymore. Where could a man who never leaves the house possibly have gone?

As they try to find out if something has happened to him, unexpected secrets are revealed among all three women, leading to an alliance that seems the only way for any of them to hold on to what they can still call their own. But it’s a fragile pact and one little spark could send it all up in smoke…

Review:

Rich, atmospheric, and unpredictable!

A Map to Paradise is a mysterious, captivating tale set in Malibu during the late 1950s that takes us into the lives of three main characters. Melanie, an aspiring actress whose affair with a suspected communist has blacklisted her from the movie business; Eva, a European immigrant maid who is content to keep her head down and get her work done; and June, a middle-aged woman who since losing her husband has spent her days happily taking care of her agoraphobic brother-in-law.

The prose is eloquent and expressive. The characters are vulnerable, resourceful, and resilient. And the plot is a compelling tale of life, loss, deception, surprises, secrets, heartbreak, betrayal, friendship, survival, and a touch of romance.

Overall, A Map to Paradise is an intriguing, absorbing, enigmatic tale by Meissner that immerses you in another time and place and does a wonderful job of highlighting the lengths that people will often go to for survival, and reminds us just how important and powerful female friendships can truly be.

 

This novel is available now.

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

         

 

 

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

 

About Susan Meissner

Susan Meissner is a USA Today bestselling novelist with more than half a million books in print in fifteen languages. Her critically acclaimed works of historical fiction have been named to numerous lists including Publishers Weekly’s annual roster of 100 best books, Library Reads Top Picks, Real Simple annual tally of best books, Goodreads Readers’ Choice awards, Booklist’s Top Ten, and Book of the Month.

She attended Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego and is a former managing editor of a weekly newspaper. Susan’s expertise as a storyteller and her thoroughly researched topics make her a favorite author of book clubs everywhere. Her engaging and warm speaking style appeal to all manner of women’s groups, literary organizations, libraries and learning institutions, and service clubs.

When she is not working on a new novel, she enjoys teaching workshops on writing and dream-following, spending time with her family, music, reading great books, and travelling.

Photo courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.

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#BookReview Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall @SimonSchusterCA #BrokenCountry #ClareLeslieHall #SimonSchusterCA

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#BookReview Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall @SimonSchusterCA #BrokenCountry #ClareLeslieHall #SimonSchusterCA Title: Broken Country

Author: Clare Leslie Hall

Published by: Simon & Schuster on Mar. 4, 2025

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 320

Format: Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 10/10

“The farmer is dead. He is dead, and all anyone wants to know is who killed him.”

Beth and her gentle, kind husband Frank are happily married, but their relationship relies on the past staying buried. But when Beth’s brother-in-law shoots a dog going after their sheep, Beth doesn’t realize that the gunshot will alter the course of their lives. For the dog belonged to none other than Gabriel Wolfe, the man Beth loved as a teenager—the man who broke her heart years ago. Gabriel has returned to the village with his young son Leo, a boy who reminds Beth very much of her own son, who died in a tragic accident.

As Beth is pulled back into Gabriel’s life, tensions around the village rise and dangerous secrets and jealousies from the past resurface, this time with deadly consequences. Beth is forced to make a choice between the woman she once was, and the woman she has become.

A sweeping love story with the pace and twists of a thriller, Broken Country is a novel of simmering passion, impossible choices, and explosive consequences that toggles between the past and present to explore the far-reaching legacy of first love.

Review:

Poignant, mysterious, and beautifully written!

Broken Country is a tragic, moving, emotionally-charged novel that transports you to North Dorset between 1955 and 1968 and immerses you into the ongoing, entangled relationships between the hardworking, reliable Johnson family and the privileged, affluent Wolfe family, complete with all the powerful emotions, long-buried secrets, and unimaginable tragedy that has tied them together for almost fifteen years.

The prose is lyrical and expressive. The characters, including all the supporting characters, are complex, conflicted, and scarred. And the plot is a compelling, sobering tale of life, loss, family, friendship, grief, guilt, denial, secrets, reflection, self-preservation, love, and redemption.

Overall, Broken Country will make you think, it will make you sad, and it will resonate with you long after the final page. It’s an impactful, enthralling, powerful tale by Hall that uses extraordinary character development to weave a combination of an impressive, intricate mystery and a heartbreaking, bittersweet love story, all steeped in an abundance of tragedy and pain.

 

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 Clare Leslie Hall

Clare Leslie Hall is a novelist and journalist who lives in the wilds of Dorset, England, with her family. She’s the author of Broken Country, Pictures of Him, and Days You Were Mine.

Photograph by Oli Green.

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#BookReview Every Precious and Fragile Thing by Barbara Davis @FireflyDist @AmazonPub #EveryPreciousAndFragileThing #BarbaraDavis #LakeUnion #FireflyDist

Published on by Zoe1 Comment
#BookReview Every Precious and Fragile Thing by Barbara Davis @FireflyDist @AmazonPub #EveryPreciousAndFragileThing #BarbaraDavis #LakeUnion #FireflyDist Title: Every Precious and Fragile Thing

Author: Barbara Davis

Published by: Lake Union Publishing on Feb. 18, 2025

Genres: General Fiction, Historical Fiction

Pages: 431

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Firefly Distributed Lines

Book Rating: 10/10

A mother and daughter try desperately to reconcile just as a decades-old secret threatens to shatter their relationship forever in this powerful story from the bestselling author of The Echo of Old Books.

For social worker Mallory Ward, working with at-risk youth is a calling. But when one of her clients is tragically killed, she finds herself at a crossroads. Despite long-held resentments toward her distant mother, Mallory retreats to her childhood home on the Rhode Island coast to contemplate her future. Instead, she’s confronted by her past, not only in the renewed tensions with her mother but in the unexpected appearance of a familiar face―and the wrenching losses that drove her away a decade ago.

Helen Ward’s home is filled with precious keepsakes from her patients, a testament to decades spent caring for the terminally ill. Her work has always come first, though, leaving little time to connect with her daughter. Over the years, the rift between them has become a chasm, so when Mallory appears unannounced, Helen sees it as an opportunity to repair their broken relationship.

But hidden among Helen’s mementos are the keys to her past…and a terrible secret that threatens to destroy the fragile new trust between them forever.

Review:

Absorbing, optimistic, and tender!

Every Precious and Fragile Thing is a heartfelt, engaging tale that takes you into the lives of two main characters. Mallory, a compassionate social worker who, after one of her clients is brutally murdered, heads home to regroup, repair the strained relationship she has with her mother, and decide what she really wants to do with her life, and Helen, a death doula who after helping numerous people pass peacefully into the next life, decides to take a break to focus on what’s truly important and finally share all her secrets from the past with her daughter.

The prose is sensitive and reflective. The characters are scarred, insecure, and secretive. And the plot is a compelling tale of life, loss, family, grief, friendship, self-discovery, trust, kindness, support, forgiveness, troubled pasts, taking chances, companionship, second-chance love, and the intricacies of mother-daughter relationships.

Overall, Every Precious and Fragile Thing is a moving, uplifting, nostalgic tale by Davis, complete with strong, endearing characters, a touching storyline, and an insightful look into the power of remorse and the unbreakable ties that bind us to those we love.

 

This novel is available now.

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

          

 

 

Thank you to Firefly Distributed Lines for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Barbara Davis

I’m a Jersey girl raised in the south, now living and writing in New England. Confused? Constantly. Happy? Deliriously! But then, living your dream will do that! After fifteen years of wearing heels and schlepping a briefcase as an executive in the jewelry industry, I traded in my pinstripes for a little peace of mind, and decided to follow my dream of becoming a women’s fiction author. And what a ride it’s been! Six books later, I’m still pinching myself, and I’m still as much in love with writing as I was the day I began this journey. Maybe it’s because I believe in miracles, in happy endings and new beginnings. Heaven knows I’ve had my share.

I’m blessed to be married to my best friend and soul mate, Tom, who I must say, sets the bar pretty high for my on-the-page heroes. We also have a lovely ginger cat named Simon, who is twenty years old, wretchedly spoiled, and doesn’t give a fig if I’m on deadline or not. When I’m not making up stories, you’re likely to find me reading, cooking, watching college football, (Go Gators!) or spreading a little sunshine over on Facebook, on The Sunshine Page.

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