#BookReview Dandelion is Dead by Rosie Story @BerkleyPub @PenguinRandomCA #DandelionIsDead #RosieStory #Berkley #BerkleyPartner #PenguinReads

#BookReview Dandelion is Dead by Rosie Story @BerkleyPub @PenguinRandomCA #DandelionIsDead #RosieStory #Berkley #BerkleyPartner #PenguinReads Title: Dandelion is Dead

Author: Rosie Story

Published by: Berkley on Jan. 13, 2026

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Literary Fiction

Pages: 368

Format: Hardcover

Source: Berkley Publishing

Book Rating: 8/10

Jake has fallen head over heels for Dandelion. The only problem? Dandelion is dead.

When Poppy discovers unanswered messages from a charming stranger in her late sister’s dating app, she makes an impulsive choice: She’ll meet him, just once, on what would have been Dandelion’s fortieth birthday. It’s exactly the kind of wild adventure her vivacious sister would have pushed her toward.

Jake is ready to find something real—and not least because his ex-wife’s twentysomething boyfriend has moved into their old family home. When he meets the intriguing woman who calls herself Dandelion, their connection is undeniable, and he can think of little else.

As their relationship deepens, Poppy finds herself trapped in a double life she never meant to create. Every moment with Jake feels genuine, electric, and totally right—despite the fact they’re tangled in deceit. As the lines between grief and love blur, Poppy faces a choice: keep her sister’s memory alive through her lies, or risk everything for a chance at her own happiness?

With sparkling wit and aching tenderness, debut author Rosie Storey gives us a modern love story about the courage it takes to live again after loss and finding hope in the most unexpected places.


Review:

Witty, tender, and touching!

Dandelion is Dead is a layered, perceptive tale featuring the heartbroken, grief-stricken Poppy who has been contemplating her life and masking her sorrow after the loss of her big sister, and Jake the single dad who seems like the perfect mate except for the fact he doesn’t know her true identity and she happens to have a fiancé at home.

The writing is heartfelt and direct. The characters are lonely, quirky, and adrift. And the plot is a lighthearted, touching blend of life, love, loss, introspection, friendship, grief, guilt, awkward situations, sweet moments, dating woes, misunderstandings, communication, intimacy, deception, and moving on.

Overall, Dandelion is Dead is an astute, moving, sincere novel by Story that is the first book I’ve read by this author, but certainly won’t be my last.

 

This book is available now.

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

             

 

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

 

About Rosie Story

Rosie Storey grew up on a farm in the south of England. She left her corporate career to finish her debut novel, Dandelion Is Dead. She holds a master’s in creative writing, lives in East London, and works as a writing coach.

Photo by Sophie Davidson.

#BookReview Theo of Golden by Allen Levi @SimonSchusterCA #TheoOfGolden #AllenLevi #SimonSchusterCA

#BookReview Theo of Golden by Allen Levi @SimonSchusterCA #TheoOfGolden #AllenLevi #SimonSchusterCA Title: Theo of Golden

Author: Allen Levi

Published by: Simon & Schuster on Nov. 11, 2025

Genres: Literary Fiction

Pages: 400

Format: Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 10/10

One spring morning, a stranger arrives in the small southern city of Golden. No one knows where he has come from…or why…

His name is Theo. And he asks a lot more questions than he answers.

Theo visits the local coffeehouse, where ninety-two pencil portraits hang on the walls, portraits of the people of Golden done by a local artist. He begins purchasing them, one at a time, and putting them back in the hands of their “rightful owners.” With each exchange, a story is told, a friendship born, and a life altered.

A story of giving and receiving, of seeing and being seen, Theo of Golden is a beautifully crafted novel about the power of creative generosity, the importance of wonder to a purposeful life, and the invisible threads of kindness that bind us to one another.


Review:

Powerful, poignant, and memorable!⁣

𝐓heo of Golden is a nostalgic, touching novel that takes you into the life of Theo, an eighty-six-year-old man who, after arriving in a small town and stumbling upon a coffee shop adorned with nearly a hundred beautiful portraits of local residents, decides to purchase each drawing and return it to the person depicted, while also offering a listening ear, gentle wisdom, and an extraordinary kindness to anyone willing to receive it.⁣

The prose is eloquent and reflective. The characters, including all the supporting characters, are unique, endearing, multi-layered, and warm. And the plot is a beautiful tale of friendship, happiness, kindness, generosity, loss, grief, solace, forgiveness, honesty, humour, unconditional love, growing old, and the true meaning of family.⁣

Overall, 𝐓heo of Golden is a moving, delightful, exceptional debut by Levi that made me smile, made me cry, and is, without question, one of my favourite reads of the year.⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣

 

This book is available now.

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

         

 

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Allen Levi

Allen Levi—attorney, judge, singer/songwriter, author—lives on and cares for family acreage near a small town in middle Georgia. Theo of Golden is his first novel.