Publisher: Doubleday Canada

#BookReview Make Me a Mixtape by Jennifer Whiteford @doubledayca @PenguinRandomCA #MakeMeAMixtape #JenniferWhiteford #PenguinReads

#BookReview Make Me a Mixtape by Jennifer Whiteford @doubledayca @PenguinRandomCA #MakeMeAMixtape #JenniferWhiteford #PenguinReads Title: Make Me a Mixtape

Author: Jennifer Whiteford

Published by: Doubleday Canada on Oct. 8, 2024

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 280

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Penguin Random House Canada

Book Rating: 8/10

A guarded punk-rocker-turned-barista meets a big-hearted sound tech who charms his way into her life and helps her revisit her musical past in this truly charming, cozy fall romance.

Allie Andrews gave up on the music world ten years ago. No wild tours, no late nights, no career-ending inter-band blowouts. Just day after comfortable day of working in her aunt’s café in Brooklyn and recording ’80s cover songs in her tiny apartment. The last thing she wants, or expects, is to be recognized as former punk rocker Allie Jetski. But a last-minute coffee delivery lands her face to face with the big, charming, handsome (and quite possibly number one fan of the Jetskis) Ryan Abernathy.

Ryan isn’t about to forget meeting the lead singer of one of his favorite bands. Undeterred by her prickly demeanor, he sets his mind to helping Allie find her way back to the Jetskis—so she can come to terms with what happened all those years ago. Allie finds Ryan hard to resist, and her quiet life is turned upside down as she is swept up in a whirlwind hunt for her old bandmates.

But when Aunt Mindy announces that she’s decided to sell the café, Allie is faced with a life-altering choice: play it safe and take over the business, or risk opening herself up to a future in music . . . and maybe even love.


Review:

Charming, comical, and uplifting!

Make Me a Mixtape is a sweet, heartwarming tale that takes you into the life of the hardworking Allie Andrews who, after walking away from a burgeoning music career a decade earlier, now finds herself spending her days recording 80s cover songs, working in her aunt’s cafe, and trying to deny a blossoming attraction to a sound technician who was once one of her band’s biggest fans.

The prose is tender and smooth. The characters are multilayered, amusing and endearing. And the plot is a smart, engaging tale full of life, loss, love, friendship, tricky moments, awkward situations, miscommunication, delicious chemistry, romance, tension, self-reflection, and a soundtrack of some of the most unforgettable 80s songs.

Overall, Make Me a Mixtape is a light, refreshing, entertaining tale by Whiteford that I thoroughly enjoyed and which is a solid choice for fans of contemporary romance novels that are brimming with humour, heart, hope, and music.

 

This novel is available now.

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

        

 

 

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

 

About Jennifer Whiteford

JENNIFER WHITEFORD (she/her) lives in Ottawa, Ontario, with her partner, children, dog and record collection. She writes regularly for Razorcake, a long-standing punk publication. She was also a founding member of the "all girl, all rock" band Sophomore Level Psychology. With those rock 'n roll days behind her, she now mostly stays home and reads.

#BookReview Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty @doubledayca @PenguinRandomCA #HereOneMoment #LianeMoriarty #PenguinReads

#BookReview Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty @doubledayca @PenguinRandomCA #HereOneMoment #LianeMoriarty #PenguinReads Title: Here One Moment

Author: Liane Moriarty

Published by: Doubleday Canada on Sep. 10, 2024

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 512

Format: Hardcover

Source: Penguin Random House Canada

Book Rating: 10/10

If you knew your future, would you try to fight fate?

Aside from a delay, there will be no problems. The flight will be smooth, it will land safely. Everyone who gets on the plane will get off. But almost all of them will be forever changed.
 
Because on this ordinary, short, domestic flight, something extraordinary happens. People learn how and when they are going to die. For some, their deaths are far in the future—age 103!—and they laugh. But for six passengers, their predicted deaths are not far away at all.
 
How do they know this? There were ostensibly more interesting people on the flight (the bride and groom, the jittery, possibly famous woman, the giant Hemsworth-esque guy who looks like an off-duty superhero, the frazzled, gorgeous flight attendant) but none would become as famous as “The Death Lady.”
 
Not a single passenger or crew member will later recall noticing her board the plane. She wasn’t exceptionally old or young, rude or polite. She wasn’t drunk or nervous or pregnant. Her appearance and demeanor were unremarkable. But what she did on that flight was truly remarkable.
 
A few months later, one passenger dies exactly as she predicted. Then two more passengers die—again, as she said they would. Soon no one is thinking this is simply an entertaining story at a cocktail party.
 
If you were told you only had a certain amount of time left to live, would you do things differently? Would you try to dodge your destiny?
 
Liane Moriarty’s Here One Moment is a brilliantly constructed tale that looks at free will and destiny, grief and love, and the endless struggle to maintain certainty and control in an uncertain world. A modern-day Jane Austen who humorously skewers social mores while spinning a web of mystery, Moriarty asks profound questions in her newest I-can’t-wait-to-find-out-what-happens novel.


Review:

Intricate, thought-provoking, and immersive!

Here One Moment is a pensive, moving, emotionally-charged novel that takes you into the lives of a handful of people whose worlds are irrevocably changed and linked by one plane ride and a woman who feels the need to tell every passenger the age and manner in which they will die.

The prose is eloquent and intense. The characters, including all the supporting characters, are complex, conflicted, and genuine. And the plot is a compelling, sobering tale of life, love, loss, family, friendship, grief, guilt, acceptance, fate, consequences, and choices.

Overall, Here One Moment will make you think and will resonate with you long after the final page. It’s an impactful, enthralling, reflective tale by Moriarty that does a remarkable job of highlighting humanities weaknesses and emotional fragility and reminds us just how important it is to appreciate all those little things in life, the moments, the sunsets, and the shared smiles.

 

This novel is available now.

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

        

 

 

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

 

About Liane Moriarty

Liane Moriarty is the author of the #1 New York Times bestsellers Big Little Lies, The Husband’s Secret, and Truly Madly Guilty; the New York Times bestsellers Nine Perfect Strangers, What Alice Forgot, and The Last Anniversary; The Hypnotist’s Love Story; and Three Wishes. She lives in Sydney, Australia, with her husband and two children.

Photo by über photography

#BookReview The Summer Pact by Emily Giffin @emilygiffin @PenguinRandomCA #TheSummerPact #EmilyGiffin #PenguinReads

#BookReview The Summer Pact by Emily Giffin @emilygiffin @PenguinRandomCA #TheSummerPact #EmilyGiffin #PenguinReads Title: The Summer Pact

Author: Emily Giffin

Published by: Doubleday Canada on Jul. 9, 2024

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Women's Fiction

Pages: 352

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Penguin Random House

Book Rating: 8/10

In the wake of tragedy, a group of friends makes a pact that will cause them to reunite a decade later and embark upon a life-changing adventure together—from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Meant to Be.

Four freshmen arrive at college from completely different worlds: Lainey, a California party girl with a flair for drama; Tyson, a brilliant scholar and aspiring lawyer from Washington, D.C.; Summer, an ambitious, recruited athlete from the Midwest; and Hannah, a mild-mannered southerner who is content to quietly round out the circle of big personalities. Soon after arriving on campus, they strike up a conversation in their shared dorm, and the seeds of friendship are planted.

As their college years fly by, their bond intensifies and the four become inseparable. But as graduation nears, their lives are forever changed after a desperate act leads to tragic consequences. Stunned and heartbroken, they make a pact, promising to always be there for one another, no matter how separated they may become by circumstances or distance.

Ten years later, Hannah is anticipating what should be one of the happiest moments of her life when everything is suddenly turned upside down. Calling on her closest friends, it soon becomes clear that they are all facing their own crossroads. True to their promise, they agree to take a time out from lives headed in wrong directions and embark on a shared journey of self-discovery, forgiveness, and acceptance.

In this tender portrayal of grief, love, and hope, Emily Giffin asks: When things fall apart, who will be at our sides, helping us pick up the pieces?


Review:

Heartwarming, intimate, and sweet!

The Summer Pact is an uplifting, compelling tale that takes you into the life of three college friends, Lainey, Hannah, and Tyson who, after tragically losing their fourth best friend in their final days of school and promising to always be there for each other, gather ten years later to help each other navigate old pain, new heartbreaks, underlying hurts, and unfulfilled dreams.

The writing is sentimental and tender. The characters are flawed, genuine, and supportive. And the plot is an emotionally engaging tale full of heartache, loss, grief, guilt, hope, friendship, relationship dynamics, drama, romance, and love.

Overall, The Summer Pact is a thoughtful, nostalgic, touching tale by Griffin that reminds us that life is truly precious and even with all the highs and lows and ups and downs, it should always be lived to the fullest.

 

This novel is available now.

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

         

 

 

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

 

About Emily Giffin

Emily Giffin is the author of eleven internationally bestselling novels: Something Borrowed, Something Blue, Baby Proof, Love the One You’re With, Heart of the Matter, Where We Belong, The One & Only, First Comes Love, All We Ever Wanted, The Lies That Bind, and Meant to Be. She lives in Atlanta with her family and two dogs.

Photo by Chris Martin

#BookReview The Night in Question by Susan Fletcher @sfletcherauthor @PenguinRandomCA #SusanFletcher #TheNightInQuestion #PenguinReads

#BookReview The Night in Question by Susan Fletcher @sfletcherauthor @PenguinRandomCA #SusanFletcher #TheNightInQuestion #PenguinReads Title: The Night in Question

Author: Susan Fletcher

Published by: Doubleday Canada on Apr. 2, 2024

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 440

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Penguin Random House Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

A lyrical and emotionally engaging novel infused with mystery and wisdom about love, friendship, and the power of forgiveness.

Florrie Butterfield—eighty-seven, one-legged, and of cheerful disposition—believes there can’t be any more adventures or surprises in life to experience. Yet one midsummer’s evening, there’s an accident at Babbington Hall—the adult residence where she lives—so shocking and strange that Florrie is suspicious; is this really an accident? Or is she being lied to? Is she, in fact, living alongside a potential murderer? In her efforts to learn the truth, Florrie is forced to look back on her own life, with all its passions and regrets; she must confront her own bloody secret—and, at last, forgive herself. Above all, Florrie learns, through the help of her new friend, Stanhope, that you’re never too old to have the life you’ve always dreamed of. When it comes to love, it’s never too late.

Readers of moving fiction about late-in-life second chances such as Fredrik Backman’s A Man Called Ove and Rachel Joyce’s The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry will love this un-putdownable book.


Review:

Poignant, satisfying, and mysterious!

The Night in Question is a charming, tender tale that takes you into the life of eighty-seven-year-old Florrie Butterfield, a feisty resident of Babbington Hall who, after witnessing the facility’s young manager fall from a third-floor window, takes it upon herself to recruit another fellow resident to help her prove that it was not an attempted suicide after all but rather a more sinister plan that had actually been in the works for a very long time.

The writing style is sentimental and heartfelt. The characters are quirky, determined, and intriguing. And the plot is a well-paced, compelling whodunit full of red herrings, amateur sleuthing, tricky situations, awkward moments, troubled pasts, deduction, danger, and vengeance.

Overall, The Night in Question is a cosy, satisfying, entertaining read by Fletcher that was such a delight to read with all its intricacies, drama, and endearing characters.

 

This novel is available now.

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

         

 

 

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

 

About Susan Fletcher

SUSAN FLETCHER is a British novelist. Her debut, Eve Green, won the 2004 Whitbread First Novel Award, the Betty Trask Prize, the Author’s Club Best First Novel Award and the Richard and Judy Summer Read in 2005. It was also shortlisted for the LA Times First Novel Award. Her other novels include Oystercatchers (longlisted for the Romantic Novel of the Year Award and the Dylan Thomas Prize), Witch Light (shortlisted for the John Llewellyn-Rhys Award and the Writer’s Guild Best Fiction Award) and A Little In Love (winner of 2016 North East Children's Book Award). Susan is the current Fellow at the University of Worcester as part of the Royal Literary Fund's fellowship scheme. She lives in Stratford-Upon-Avon, England.

#BookReview The Gathering by C.J. Tudor @cjtudor @PenguinRandomCA #CJTudor #TheGathering #PenguinReads

#BookReview The Gathering by C.J. Tudor @cjtudor @PenguinRandomCA #CJTudor #TheGathering #PenguinReads Title: The Gathering

Author: C.J. Tudor

Published by: Doubleday Canada on Apr. 9, 2024

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 352

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Penguin Random House Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

A detective investigating a grisly crime in rural Alaska finds herself caught up in the dark secrets and superstitions of a small town in this riveting novel from the acclaimed author of The Chalk Man

Deadhart, Alaska. 873. Living.

In a small Alaska town, a boy is found with his throat ripped out and all the blood drained from his body. The inhabitants of Deadhart haven’t seen a killing like this in twenty-five years. But they know who’s responsible: a member of the Colony, an ostracized community of vampyrs living in an old mine settlement deep in the woods.

Detective Barbara Atkins, a specialist in vampyr killings, is called in to officially determine if this is a Colony killing—and authorize a cull. Old suspicions die hard in a town like Deadhart, but Barbara isn’t so sure. Determined to find the truth, she enlists the help of a former Deadhart sheriff, Jenson Tucker, whose investigation into the previous murder almost cost him his life. Since then, Tucker has become a recluse. But he knows the Colony better than almost anyone.

As the pair delve into the town’s history, they uncover secrets darker than they could have imagined. And then another body is found. While the snow thickens and the nights grow longer, a killer stalks Deadhart, and two disparate communities circle each other for blood. Time is running out for Atkins and Tucker to find the truth: Are they hunting a bloodthirsty monster . . . or a twisted psychopath? And which is more dangerous?


Review:

Unique, mysterious, and atmospheric!

The Gathering is a gritty, unsettling tale that takes you to Deadhart, Alaska, a small town that has lived a relatively quiet existence for the past twenty-five years since the Colony moved away after the death of a local boy. But now the Colony is back, and another young boy has suddenly been found with his throat ripped out, and the townspeople are no longer interested in finding the one person or thing responsible, they’re out for blood and won’t be happy until the whole Colony of vampyrs are slaughtered once and for all.

The writing is sharp and descriptive. The characters are meticulous, intelligent, and driven. And the plot unfolds and unravels quickly into a suspenseful, action-packed tale full of twists, turns, manipulation, deception, community, surprises, suspects, hostility, savagery, deduction, desperation, complex relationships, violence, murder, and the supernatural.

Overall, The Gathering is a clever, tight, disturbing thrill ride that had just the right amount of twists, turns, and surprises to keep me thoroughly engrossed from start to finish. It’s surprisingly the first novel I’ve read by Tudor, but I can guarantee you it won’t be my last.

 

This novel is available now.

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

         

 

 

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

 

About C.J. Tudor

C. J. Tudor is the author of The Drift, The Burning Girls, The Other People, The Hiding Place, and The Chalk Man, which won the International Thriller Writers Award for Best First Novel, the Barry Award, and the Strand Critics Award for Best Debut Novel. Over the years she has worked as a copywriter, television presenter, voice-over artist, and dog walker. She is now thrilled to be able to write full-time, and doesn’t miss chasing wet dogs through muddy fields all that much. She lives in England with her partner and daughter.

Photo: © Bill Waters

#BookReview A Great Country by Shilpi Somaya Gowda @PenguinRandomCA #ShilpiSomayaGowda #AGreatCountry #PenguinReads

#BookReview A Great Country by Shilpi Somaya Gowda @PenguinRandomCA #ShilpiSomayaGowda #AGreatCountry #PenguinReads Title: A Great Country

Author: Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Published by: Doubleday Canada on Mar. 26, 2024

Genres: General Fiction

Pages: 336

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Penguin Random House Canada

Book Rating: 9/10

From the New York Times bestselling author, a novel in the tradition of Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere, exploring the ties and fractures of a close-knit Indian-American family in the aftermath of a violent encounter with the police.

Pacific Hills, California: Gated communities, ocean views, well-tended lawns, serene pools, and now the new home of the Shah family. For the Shah parents, who came to America twenty years earlier with little more than an education and their new marriage, this move represents the culmination of years of hard work and dreaming. For their children, born and raised in America, success is not so simple.

For the most part, these differences among the five members of the Shah family are minor irritants, arguments between parents and children, older and younger siblings. But one Saturday night, the twelve-year-old son is arrested. The fallout from that event will shake each family member’s perception of themselves as individuals, as community members, as Americans, and will lead each to consider: how do we define success? At what cost comes ambition? And what is our role and responsibility in the cultural mosaic of modern America?

For readers of The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett and Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid, A Great Country explores themes of immigration, generational conflict, social class and privilege as it reconsiders the myth of the model minority and questions the price of the American dream.


Review:

Astute, fast-paced, and thought-provoking!

A Great Country is a nuanced, absorbing tale set in Pacific Hills, California that takes you into the lives of the Indian American Shah family as their lives get turned upside down when the youngest member of the family, twelve-year-old Ajay, is brutally arrested and they must each individually confront their conflicting feelings and experiences with systemic racism, prejudice, privilege, controversy, reputation, and ableism.

The prose is well-turned and fluid. The characters are flawed, troubled, and confused. And the plot is a moving tale of life, loss, shame, reputation, ostracism, class division, suffering, friendship, affluence, culture, and familial drama.

Overall, A Great Country is a hopeful, compelling, multi-generational saga by Gowda that is a good reminder that family can be frustrating, messy, secretive, and sometimes hard to love, but they can also be surprising, supportive, loyal, and the only true place that feels like home.

 

This novel is available now.

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

         

 

 

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

 

About Shilpi Somaya Gowda

SHILPI SOMAYA GOWDA was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. Her previous novels, Secret Daughter, The Golden Son and The Shape of Family became international bestsellers, selling over two million copies worldwide, in over 30 languages. She holds degrees from Stanford University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she was a Morehead-Cain scholar. She lives in California with her husband and children.

Photo by Alissa Rose Photography

#BookReview Good Material by Dolly Alderton @PenguinRandomCA #GoodMaterial #DollyAlderton #PenguinReads

#BookReview Good Material by Dolly Alderton @PenguinRandomCA #GoodMaterial #DollyAlderton #PenguinReads Title: Good Material

Author: Dolly Alderton

Published by: Doubleday Canada on Jan. 30, 2024

Genres: Contemporary Romance, General Fiction

Pages: 336

Format: Paperback

Source: Penguin Random House Canada

Book Rating: 8/10

From the bestselling author of Ghosts and Everything I Know About Love: a story of heartbreak and friendship and how to survive both.

Andy’s story wasn’t meant to turn out this way. Living out of a suitcase in his best friends’ spare room, waiting for his career as a stand-up comedian to finally take off, he struggles to process the life-ruining end of his relationship with the only woman he’s ever truly loved.

As he tries to solve the seemingly unsolvable mystery of his broken relationship, he contends with career catastrophe, social media paranoia, a rapidly dwindling friendship group and the growing suspicion that, at 35, he really should have figured this all out by now.

Andy has a lot to learn, not least his ex-girlfriend’s side of the story.

Warm, wise, funny and achingly relatable, Dolly Alderton’s highly-anticipated second novel is about the mystery of what draws us together – and what pulls us apart – the pain of really growing up, and the stories we tell about our lives.


Review:

Witty, tender, and authentic!

Good Material is a snappy, insightful tale that takes you into the life of the disillusioned, thirty-five-year-old comedian Andy as he struggles to juggle a lacklustre career, life as a single thirtysomething, a sudden end to a relationship he thought was going well, the intricacies of dating younger women, and a friend group that all seem to have their stuff together and are getting married and having babies.

The writing is genuine and direct. The characters are lonely, quirky, and adrift. And the plot is a lighthearted, touching blend of life, love, introspection, friendship, self-depreciating humour, awkward situations, sweet moments, dating woes, misunderstandings, intimacy, and moving on.

Overall, Good Material is a layered, astute, clever tale by Alderton that is the first novel I’ve read by this author, but certainly won’t be my last.

 

This novel is available now.

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

        

 

 

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

 

About Dolly Alderton

DOLLY ALDERTON is an award-winning author, screenwriter and journalist based in London. She is a columnist for The Sunday Times Style and has also written for GQ, Red, Marie Claire and Grazia. She is the former co-host and co-creator of the podcast The High Low. Her first book, Everything I Know About Love, became a top five Sunday Times best-seller in its first week of publication, won a National Book Award (UK) for Autobiography of the Year and was made into a BBC One TV Series. Ghosts, her first novel, was published in 2021. Dear Dolly, a collection of her agony aunt columns from the Sunday Times Style magazine, was published in 2022 and was also a Sunday Times best-seller.

Photo by Alexandra Cameron.

#BookReview Everyone Here is Lying by Shari Lapena @sharilapena @doubledayca @PenguinRandomCA #EveryoneHereisLying #ShariLapena #PenguinReads

#BookReview Everyone Here is Lying by Shari Lapena @sharilapena @doubledayca @PenguinRandomCA #EveryoneHereisLying #ShariLapena #PenguinReads Title: Everyone Here is Lying

Author: Shari Lapena

Published by: Doubleday Canada on Jul. 25, 2023

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 336

Format: ARC, eBook

Source: Penguin Random House

Book Rating: 8.5/10

Welcome to Stanhope! A safe neighborhood. A place for families.

William Wooler is a family man, on the surface. But he’s been having an affair, an affair that ended horribly this afternoon at a motel up the road. So when he returns to his house, devastated and angry, to find his difficult nine-year-old daughter, Avery, unexpectedly home from school, William loses his temper.

Hours later, Avery’s family declares her missing.

Suddenly Stanhope doesn’t feel so safe. And William isn’t the only one on his street who’s hiding a lie. As witnesses come forward with information that may or may not be true, Avery’s neighbors become increasingly unhinged.

Who took Avery Wooler?

Nothing will prepare you for the truth.


Review:

Unsettling, intricate, and tortuous! 

Everyone Here is Lying is a twisty, disturbing mystery that takes you into the lives of a handful of residents of the Stanhope community, including the Wooler family, as their worlds get turned upside down when one afternoon, nine-year-old Avery Wooler vanishes without a trace leaving some residents eager to help however they can, some pointing fingers at anyone they don’t get along with, and all of them scrambling to keep their darkest secrets hidden for good.

The writing is brisk and sharp. The characters are manipulative, secretive, and unlikeable. And the plot is an eerie, suspenseful tale full of twists, turns, secrets, surprises, lies, betrayal, familial drama, neurodiversity challenges, adultery, and suspicious personalities.

Overall, Everyone Here is Lying is another ominous, gripping, sophisticated tale by Lapena that kept me guessing from the very first page and ultimately left me chilled, satisfied, and curious to see what her devious mind could possibly 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 Random House Canada for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Shari Lapena

Shari Lapena is the internationally bestselling author of the thrillers The Couple Next Door, A Stranger in the House, An Unwanted Guest, Someone We Know, The End of Her, and Not a Happy Family, which have all been New York Times and The Sunday Times (London) bestsellers. Her books have been sold in forty territories around the world. She lives on a farm outside of Toronto. Everyone Here Is Lying is her seventh thriller.

Photo by Tristan Ostler

#BookReview Someday I’ll Find You by C. C. Humphreys @HumphreysCC @doubledayca @PenguinRandomCA #SomedayIllFindYou #CCHumphreys #PenguinReads

#BookReview Someday I’ll Find You by C. C. Humphreys @HumphreysCC @doubledayca @PenguinRandomCA #SomedayIllFindYou #CCHumphreys #PenguinReads Title: Someday I'll Find You

Author: C. C. Humphreys

Published by: Doubleday Canada on Jun. 6, 2023

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 408

Format: Paperback

Source: Penguin Random House

Book Rating: 8.5/10

For readers of The Nightingale and Lilac Girls, a dazzling novel about Ilse, a spy, and Billy, a pilot, who fall in love but are wrenched apart during World War II, and must find their way back to each other–from bestselling author C.C. Humphreys.

When Billy Coke steps onto the streets of London one December evening in 1940, he has no idea he is stepping to his fate. As Hitler’s bombers come close to burning the city down, Billy meets the woman who will change the course of his life: Ilse Magnusson, a musician from Norway, but also something more–a spy in training.

Escaping the Blitz for three days, she and Billy drive, quarrel, conceal, reveal . . . and fall finally, fully, in love.

Now they must part, each to fight the war their own way. Billy, a Canadian Spitfire pilot, to duel with the Luftwaffe over North Africa and the Med. Ilse to return to her conquered country, ingratiate herself with the Nazi elite–which includes her beloved father–and send vital intelligence back to Britain.

They know that the odds of both of them surviving are poor. All they can hope is that the other does survive–and that someday they find each other again.

From decadent pre-war Berlin to the atrocity at Guernica, from dogfights over Sicily to an Oslo ground under the German jackboot, through small victories and bitter losses, this is the story of a man and a woman at war. A tale of causes and compromises, heroism and betrayal. Of choices made, with consequences unforeseen. And finally, how sometimes . . . love can give you a second chance.


Review:

Charged, touching, and intriguing!

Someday I’ll Find You is a rich, captivating tale that sweeps you away to the early 1940s and into the lives of Canadian Spitfire pilot Billy Coke and Norwegian musician turned spy Ilsa Magnusson who, after accidentally meeting during a bombing raid on the streets of London and subsequently spending three blissful days in the English countryside, spend the rest of the war thinking of each other, doing whatever they’re told do, and hoping beyond hope that one day when the guns are silent, and the battle is won that somewhere, somehow they will find their way back to into each other’s arms.

The prose is eloquent and fluid. The characters are resilient, brave, and endearing. And the plot is a tender tale about life, loss, family, secrets, separation, sacrifice, desperation, tragedy, friendship, espionage, romance, new beginnings, and the horrors and hardships of war.

Overall, Someday I’ll Find You is a heartfelt, sentimental, affecting read by Humphreys inspired by real familial events that does a lovely job of interweaving historical facts and compelling fiction into an insightful, heart-tugging tale that is atmospheric and highly absorbing.

 

This novel is available now.

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

      

 

 

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

 

About C. C. Humphreys

CHRIS (C.C.) HUMPHREYS is a bestselling author, actor, audiobook narrator and playwright. Born in Toronto, raised in the UK, he has acted on stages all over the world in roles ranging from Hamlet to Jack Absolute to Clive Parnell on Coronation Street. He has an MFA from UBC and has written twenty-two novels of both historical fiction and fantasy including: The French Executioner, Chasing the Wind, The Jack Absolute Trilogy, Vlad, A Place Called Armageddon, Shakespeare’s Rebel, The Hunt of the Unicorn, One London Day and, most recently, Someday I’ll Find You. Plague won the 2015 Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel. He is published in more than ten languages. He lives on Salt Spring Island, British Columbia.

Photo by Jeff Vinnick, courtesy of Vancouver Public Library.

#BookReview The Golden Doves by Martha Hall Kelly @marthahallkelly @doubledayca @PenguinRandomCA #TheGoldenDoves #MarthaHallKelly

#BookReview The Golden Doves by Martha Hall Kelly @marthahallkelly @doubledayca @PenguinRandomCA #TheGoldenDoves #MarthaHallKelly Title: The Golden Doves

Author: Martha Hall Kelly

Published by: Doubleday Canada on Apr. 18, 2023

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 528

Format: Paperback

Source: Penguin Random House

Book Rating: 9/10

Two former female spies, bound together by their past, risk everything to hunt down an infamous Nazi doctor in the aftermath of World War II—an extraordinary novel inspired by true events from the New York Times bestselling author of Lilac Girls

American Josie Anderson and Parisian Arlette LaRue are thrilled to be working in the French resistance, stealing so many Nazi secrets that they become known as the Golden Doves, renowned across France and hunted by the Gestapo. Their courage will cost them everything. When they are finally arrested and taken to the Ravensbrück concentration camp, along with their loved ones, a reclusive Nazi doctor does unspeakable things to Josie’s mother, a celebrated Jewish singer who joined her daughter in Paris when the world seemed bright. And Arlette’s son is stolen from her, never to be seen again.

A decade later the Doves fall headlong into a dangerous dual mission: Josie is working for U.S. Army intelligence and accepts an assignment to hunt down the infamous doctor, while a mysterious man tells Arlette he may have found her son. The Golden Doves embark on a quest across Europe and ultimately to French Guiana, discovering a web of terrible secrets, and must put themselves in grave danger to finally secure justice and protect the ones they love.

Martha Hall Kelly has garnered acclaim for her stunning combination of empathy and research into the stories of women throughout history and for exploring the terrors of Ravensbrück. With The Golden Doves, she has crafted an unforgettable story about the fates of Nazi fugitives in the wake of World War II—and the unsung females spies who risked it all to bring them to justice.


Review:

Compelling, intense, and atmospheric!

The Golden Doves is a charged, intriguing tale that takes you into the lives of Josie Anderson, an American Intelligence Officer, and Arlette LaRue, a French waitress, both former spies and Ravensbrück prisoners whose lives intersect and collide once again seven years post-WWII when the hunt for the illusive, evil Dr. Snow and the search for a missing, but cherished child find them both in the tropics of French Guiana hoping to heal their hearts, unravel the secrets from the past, and finally find some justice for it all.

The writing is eloquent and expressive. The characters are layered, dependable, and resourceful. And the plot is a captivating mix of life, love, loss, secrets, passion, heartbreak, betrayal, tragedy, survival, danger, friendship, espionage, and war.

Overall, The Golden Doves is an absorbing, heart-tugging, beautifully written tale by Kelly inspired by real-life events, Operation Paperclip, that does an exceptional job of reminding us of the enduring devastating consequences of war while highlighting her impressive research into an intelligence program that brought Nazis chemists, physicists and other specialists to America after WWII, allowing them to escape justice for their previous horrific crimes, in order to use their knowledge to benefit US government agencies while also subsequently preventing that knowledge from falling into Soviet hands.

This novel is available now.

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

         

 

 

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

 

About Martha Hall Kelly

Martha Hall Kelly is the New York Times bestselling author of Lilac Girls, Lost Roses, and Sunflower Sisters. With more than two million copies of her books sold and her books translated in fifty countries, she lives in Connecticut and New York City.

Photo by Jeffrey Mosier Photography.