Publisher: Simon & Schuster Canada

#BookReview Only Between Us by Ellie K. Wilde @SimonSchusterCA #OnlyBetweenUs #OakwoodBaySeries #EllieKWilde #SimonSchusterCA

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#BookReview Only Between Us by Ellie K. Wilde @SimonSchusterCA #OnlyBetweenUs #OakwoodBaySeries #EllieKWilde #SimonSchusterCA Title: Only Between Us

Author: Ellie K. Wilde

Series: Oakwood Bay #2

Published by: Simon & Schuster Canada on Jul. 8, 2025

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Sports Romance

Pages: 416

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 9/10

After a death-defying injury sidelined him for two seasons, Brooks Attwood’s pro football comeback has hit a major snag. Naughty photos from a post-break-up bender have leaked, and they’re killing his chances with the Rebels—his old team, and the only one he wants to play on.

As he trains with the hope of being signed before the first kickoff of the season, Brooks’s plans to keep a low profile are suddenly upended when his selfie with a fiery fan goes viral, and tabloids mistake them as the football world’s newest It couple.

Turns out, Siena Pippen is the ex-girlfriend of the “face” of the League. And she wants nothing more to do with that world after being with her nightmare ex. While she and Brooks are busy blaming each other for the media circus surrounding them, NFL teams are suddenly scrambling to sign a housebroken Brooks. Meanwhile, Siena realizes that all this buzz could be the Hail Mary her family’s struggling business needs.

Together, Brooks and Siena hatch a ignore the will to kill each other and pretend to be madly in love—at least, until Brooks signs with a team. But the longer they pretend, the less fake their fauxmance begins to feel…and Brooks becomes as determined to convince Siena they’re truly meant to be as he is to land a spot on the Rebels’ roster.

Review:

Romantic, charming, and hopeful!

Only Between US is a heartwarming, sassy tale that takes you on a journey into the life of Siena Pippen, a young woman who, after an embarrassing first meeting and a former disastrous relationship with a pro-football player, finds herself agreeing to fake date the one man, football player Brooks Attwood who although struggling to get himself back on an NFL team after a career-ending injury might actually be the one who finally steals her heart.

The prose is smooth and light. The characters are amusing, supportive, and endearing. And the plot is a heartfelt, flirty blend of tricky situations, tender moments, humorous hijinks, introspection, new beginnings, friendship, family, health, happiness, romance, and love.

Overall, Only Between Us is another charming, witty, delightful tale by Wilde that has all the elements I’ve come to know and love in her novels, including a fierce heroine, an attentive alpha male, and a fast-paced, swoony storyline.

 

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 Ellie K. Wilde

Ellie K. Wilde dreams up love stories with a lot of heart and the kind of spice that makes your knees shake. She writes male leads with big personalities and sweet, cinnamon roll insides, and women who discover they’re just as tough as they wish they were. Happily-ever-afters only.

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#BookReview For Whom the Belle Tolls by Jaysea Lynn @SimonSchusterCA #ForWhomTheBelleTolls #HellsBelles #JayseaLynn #SimonSchusterCA

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#BookReview For Whom the Belle Tolls by Jaysea Lynn @SimonSchusterCA #ForWhomTheBelleTolls #HellsBelles #JayseaLynn #SimonSchusterCA Title: For Whom the Belle Tolls

Author: Jaysea Lynn

Series: Hell's Belles #1

Published by: Simon & Schuster Canada on May 6, 2025

Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal Romance

Pages: 640

Format: Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 9/10

They told her to go to Hell.
She’ll go on her own terms.

Lily is less than thrilled about her arrival to the Afterlife, but what awaits her is more fantastical than she ever could have imagined. Deities wait in line at the coffee shop. Fae flit between realms. Souls find ways to make death a beginning.

As Lily explores everything the Afterlife has to offer, she finds herself drawn to a place most people would rather avoid at all Hell.

What she discovers there subverts everything she’s ever learned, and Lily realizes the demons working at the gate to guide souls need help—badly. Armed with years of customer service experience and pent-up sarcasm, Lily carves out a place for herself among the demons, confronting, sassing, and aiding the spectrum of humanity to redefine justice and redemption.

A chance meeting with Bel, a demon general with a distractingly sexy voice, sparks an immediate and deeply healing friendship. However, the undeniable heat between them simmers, and it’s only a matter of time before it combusts.

Meanwhile, something stirs beyond the boundaries of their world, threatening to destroy everything they’ve ever known and everything that could be… unless they fight like Hell to stop it.

Review:

Humorous, sexy, and exceptionally creative!

For Whom the Belle Tolls is a unique, passionate tale that sweeps you away to the afterlife and into the life of Lily as she tackles with gusto an early death, a new role as a customer service agent for souls in hell, an ever-increasing attraction to an irresistible demon, and her affection for a little girl who is in desperate need of stability and love.

The prose is descriptive and light. The characters are kind, loyal, and fierce. And the plot is a captivating tale full of life, death, loyalty, duty, heartbreak, danger, family, friendship, love, sizzling tension, war, and supernatural phenomena.

Overall, For Whom the Belle Tolls is an engrossing, steamy, highly entertaining tale by Lynn that is the perfect choice for anyone who loves a dab of romance, a little spice, and a whole slew of paranormal, unconventional fun.

 

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 Jaysea Lynn

Jaysea Lynn was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest. After graduating from college, she purchased and lived aboard a thirty-five-foot sailboat for eight years, during which she found success with Hell’s Belles, her comedy/drama skit series on TikTok (@Sea.Ya.Later), and gained the confidence to share her lifelong passion of writing. She can often be found with her nose in a book, going for walks, embarking on random adventures, or trying to make the perfect cup of coffee (with mixed success).

Photography by Happy Hour

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#BookReview The King’s Messenger by Susanna Kearsley @SimonSchusterCA #TheKingsMessenger #SusannaKearsley #SimonSchusterCA

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#BookReview The King’s Messenger by Susanna Kearsley @SimonSchusterCA #TheKingsMessenger #SusannaKearsley #SimonSchusterCA Title: The King's Messenger

Author: Susanna Kearsley

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

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 384

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 10/10

For fans of Diana Gabaldon and Philippa Gregory, courtly rivalry and intrigue…
 
1613:  King James – sixth of Scotland, first of England, son of Mary, Queen of Scots – has unified both countries under one crown. But the death of his eldest son, Henry, has plunged the nation into mourning, as the rumours rise the prince was poisoned.
 
Andrew Logan’s heard the rumours, but he’s paid them little heed. As one of the King’s Messengers he has enough secrets to guard, including his own. In these perilous times, when the merest suggestion of witchcraft can see someone tortured and hanged, men like Andrew must hide well the fact they were born with the Sight.
 
He’ll need all his gifts, though, when the king sends Andrew north to find and arrest Sir David Murray, once Prince Henry’s trusted courtier, and bring him a prisoner to London to stand trial before the dreaded Star Chamber.
 
A story of treachery, betrayal and love…

Review:

Rich, enthralling, and atmospheric!

The King’s Messenger is a fascinating, absorbing tale set during 1613 that takes you into the life of Andrew Logan, a King’s Messenger who, after the death of the crown prince, is sent by the King to Scotland, along with a scribe and the scribe’s daughter, Phoebe, to find the late prince’s trusted advisor, Sir David Moray, and return him to England to be tried for his murder.

The prose is eloquent and expressive. The characters are multilayered, sympathetic, and alluring. And the plot is an epic tale filled with duty, danger, hope, fear, sacrifices, struggles, heartbreak, family, friendship, politics, complex relationships, tormented pasts, and unconditional love.

Overall, The King’s Messenger is an enchanting, immersive, heart-tugging tale that transports you to another time and place and immerses you so thoroughly into the lives, feelings, and personalities of the characters you never want it to end. It is undoubtedly one of my favourite novels of the year that once again highlights Kearsley’s extraordinary imagination and talent as a remarkable researcher and masterful storyteller.

 

This book 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 Susanna Kearsley

New York Times, USA TODAY, and Globe and Mail bestselling author Susanna Kearsley is a former museum curator who loves restoring the lost voices of real people to the page, often in twin-stranded stories that interweave present and past. Her award-winning novels are published in translation in more than twenty-five countries. She lives near Toronto.

Photo by Wendy McAlpine.

 

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#BookReview The Day I Left You by Caroline Bishop @calbish @SimonSchusterCA #TheDayILeftYou #CarolineBishop #SimonSchusterCA

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#BookReview The Day I Left You by Caroline Bishop @calbish @SimonSchusterCA #TheDayILeftYou #CarolineBishop #SimonSchusterCA Title: The Day I Left You

Author: Caroline Bishop

Published by: Simon & Schuster Canada on Feb. 18, 2025

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 368

Format: Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 9/10

For readers of The Secrets We Kept and Jill Santopolo comes an epic love story about Greta and Henry, who by chance meet in 1982 East Berlin and find a love that’s meant to last a lifetime—until Greta vanishes.

I’m sorry. I can’t stay.

East Berlin, 1982. When Greta Schneider meets Henry Henderson, she is instantly smitten. An engineer on a work visa from Britain, Henry offers Greta a taste of the world beyond the Iron Curtain, a world that she yearns to explore as a translator once she finishes university. For Henry, Greta is simply perfect—bold and beautiful, her lively and inquisitive nature adding a vital spark to his everyday life.

But their time together is limited. Henry can’t stay once his visa expires, and Greta is forbidden from going beyond the Berlin Wall. It’s only been a few weeks, but they know how they feel about each other, so when Henry proposes, Greta accepts—and is given permission to start a new life with Henry in England. And for a time, everything is perfect. Until, one day, out of the blue, Greta walks out the door of their Oxford home, leaving a simple note behind.

Decades later, Henry still has unanswered questions. Greta loved him, and he loved her. They surmounted the odds to be together, and in his heart, he knows their marriage was happy. So why did she leave? How well did he really know his wife? When a young mother visits Henry’s antique restoration shop, she unknowingly brings with her a clue that sends Henry on a journey to find out what happened to the love of his life all those years ago.

Set against the backdrop of the Cold War, The Day I Left You is a gorgeous, spellbinding story about the nature of love, the memories we cling to, and the hurts we must leave behind to move forward.

Review:

Immersive, intriguing, and affecting!

The Day I Left You is a vivid, captivating tale set in Europe during 1982, as well as 2018, that is told from two different perspectives. Greta, an East German woman who, after falling in love with a British man and with the help of some acquaintances, flees the Iron Curtain for marriage and a life in the UK, until one day she just ups and leaves, and Henry, a lovelorn man who has never forgotten the love of his life he lost more than thirty years ago.

The prose is polished and expressive. The characters are independent, troubled, and vulnerable. And the plot is an evocative tale of life, loss, love, self-discovery, manipulation, secrets, determination, betrayal, family, espionage, and romance.

Overall, The Day I Left You is a rich, evocative, tense novel by Bishop that grabs you from the very first page and is sure to be a big hit with historical fiction lovers everywhere.

 

This book 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 Caroline Bishop

Caroline Bishop is a journalist, an editor, and the author of two novels, The Other Daughter and The Lost Chapter. For the past fifteen years, she has written about travel, food, and theatre for many publications, including The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, and BBC Travel. A British-Canadian, she currently lives in Switzerland.

Photo courtesy of S&S website.

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#BookReview The Antique Hunter’s Death on the Red Sea by C.L. Miller @CLMillerAuthor @SimonSchusterCA #CLMiller #TheAntiqueHuntersDeathOnTheRedSea #SimonSchusterCA

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#BookReview The Antique Hunter’s Death on the Red Sea by C.L. Miller @CLMillerAuthor @SimonSchusterCA #CLMiller #TheAntiqueHuntersDeathOnTheRedSea #SimonSchusterCA Title: The Antique Hunter's Death on the Red Sea

Author: C.L. Miller

Series: The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder #2

Published by: Simon & Schuster Canada on Feb. 18, 2025

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 304

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 8/10

The next installment in the nationally bestselling The Antique Hunter’s Guide to Murder series finds antique hunter Freya Lockwood and Aunt Carole one again embarking on a journey to recover priceless antiques—this time on a Red Sea cruise.

Freya and Aunt Carole are back! After their successful solve at Coptham Manor, Freya and Carole return to late mentor Arthur Crockleford’s antique shop in Dedham Vale, but after receiving an invitation (and then suspicious disinvitation) from an antiques specialist cruise and a break-in and murder at a local maritime museum, Freya and Carole are back on the case!

The two catch up to their original cruise ship in Cyprus, for a route that will take them through the Suez Canal (with a stop in Egypt) to their eventual destination off the Red Sea in Jordan. The ship has an art gallery filled with stolen antiquities listed in Arthur’s journal. This time, Freya and Carole are on the hunt for a shadowy figure called “The Collector,” who traffics in stolen artifacts, and whom they believe to be on board. But on a ship full of antiques enthusiasts—plus some unexpected familiar faces—will Freya and Carole be able to discover the Collector’s identity before people begin disappearing from the ship? Or are they next?

Review:

Whimsical, suspenseful, and atmospheric!

The Antique Hunter’s Death on the Red Sea is a charming, mysterious tale that takes us back into the life of Freya Lockwood and her Aunt Carole as they now find themselves on an invitation-only cruise headed to Jordan in the hopes of helping nab once and for all the infamous trafficker of stolen artifacts, known as “The Collector”.

The writing style is light and witty. The characters are unique, impulsive, and endearing. And the plot is a well-paced, entertaining whodunit full of amateur sleuthing, red herrings, suspicious personalities, deduction, attraction, and murder.

Overall, The Antique Hunter’s Death on the Red Sea is the second book in The Antique Hunter’s Guide to Murder series, and if you enjoy a quirky, enjoyable, fun mystery like me, then this one won’t disappoint.

 

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 C.L. Miller

C. L. Miller started working life as an editorial assistant for her mother, Judith Miller, on The Miller’s Antique Price Guide and other antiquing guides. After she had children, she decided to follow her long-held dream of becoming an author and began concentrating on her writing full-time. She was an Undiscovered Voices 2022 and in the UV 2022 anthology. She lives in a medieval cottage in Dedham Vale, Suffolk, with her family.

Photograph © Dan Kennedy

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#BookReview Only in Your Dreams by Ellie K. Wilde @SimonSchusterCA #OnlyInYourDreams #EllieKWilde #OakwoodBaySeries #SimonSchusterCA

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#BookReview Only in Your Dreams by Ellie K. Wilde @SimonSchusterCA #OnlyInYourDreams #EllieKWilde #OakwoodBaySeries #SimonSchusterCA Title: Only in Your Dreams

Author: Ellie K. Wilde

Series: Oakwood Bay #1

Published by: Simon & Schuster Canada on Jan. 21, 2025

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 432

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

If he can prove he loved her then, and he loves her still, this time might be different.

Ten years after one of the most heartbreaking nights of her life, Melody Woods is back in her small hometown of Oakwood Bay, broke, jaded, and unceremoniously dumped by her big-city boyfriend. To top it all off, her twin brother, Parker, is pushing her to take his spot on a camping trip with the one guy she’s spent a decade avoiding.

For college football coach Zac Porter, his best friend’s twin sister, Melody, has always been off-limits. And after fumbling his chance ten years ago, a devastated Zac was sure he’d lost Melody for good. So, when Melody shows up at the campsite instead of Parker, Zac realizes that now is the time to prove to her that they were always meant to be, no matter how long it takes to make up for his teenage self’s mistake.

Reeling from the truth of her last relationship, Melody plans to stay in town just long enough to get back on her feet. Then, she’s gone again. Meanwhile, Zac is facing an uphill battle to coach his team to its first winning game in years, to show Melody how she deserves to be loved, and to keep Parker from ever finding out. Maybe then, being with her will be more than just a dream.

Review:

Sultry, entertaining, and sweet!

Only in Your Dreams is a passionate, charming tale that mixes the weary, disheartened Melody who, after a disastrous breakup and a return to her hometown, is determined to put all her time and effort into picking herself back up while doing her best to stay away from the man who broke her heart ten years ago, and the delectable, dependable Zac who has finally decided he’s waited long enough and is finally willing to take the risk and act on his feelings for his best friend’s twin sister.

The writing is titillating and crisp. The characters, including all the supporting characters, are fun-loving and engaging. And the plot sweeps you away into a sassy, push-pull storyline filled with witty banter, shameless flirting, sizzling chemistry, friendship, family, introspection, romance, and light drama.

Overall, Only in Your Dreams is a fabulous read to kick off the new year. I enjoyed the characters, I enjoyed the storyline, and I swooned over the happy-ever-after ending!

 

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 Ellie K. Wilde

Ellie K. Wilde dreams up love stories with a lot of heart and the kind of spice that makes your knees shake. She writes male leads with big personalities and sweet, cinnamon roll insides, and women who discover they’re just as tough as they wish they were. Happily-ever-afters only.

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#BookReview The End and the Beginning by K. J. Holdom @SimonSchusterCA #KJHoldom #TheEndAndTheBeginning #SimonSchusterCA

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#BookReview The End and the Beginning by K. J. Holdom @SimonSchusterCA #KJHoldom #TheEndAndTheBeginning #SimonSchusterCA Title: The End and the Beginning

Author: K. J. Holdom

Published by: Simon & Schuster Canada on Nov. 5, 2024

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 352

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 9/10

At the start of the war, eight-year-old Max Bernot lives with his sister and parents in Lauterbach, Saarland, a narrow strip of territory between the French and German defence lines. His German father, Anton, and his French mother, Marguerite, do their best to shield Max and his sister, Anna, from Nazi violence, but in late 1944, their beloved godfather is executed in their garden by the SS, and Max, now thirteen, is conscripted in the Volkssturm. Less than a month later, Max flees a Hitler Youth camp in Bavaria with his best friend, Hans. His mission: to return home and tell his mother the truth about his godfather’s murder As he escapes, he sends postcards to his family that trace his fraught journey across a country in its death throes.

Unbeknownst to Max, his mother is trapped in the German interior, coerced into working for a fanatical Nazi officer. Desperate to escape and reunite her family, Marguerite must first protect Anna from the sinister attentions of their captor, who could hold information on Max’s whereabouts even as Allied planes circle closer.

Deftly interweaving the wartime stories of Max and Marguerite, The End and the Beginning maps the loss of innocence of a generation of children raised in the shadow of the Reich and follows the fate of one family, neither wholly French nor entirely German, who find themselves on the wrong side whichever way they turn.

Review:

Poignant, thought-provoking, and moving!

The End and the Beginning is predominantly set in Germany from January to May 1945 and is told from two different perspectives; Marguerite, a French mother living with her family in Saarland on the Germany-France border who, after her cousin is murdered, her husband is arrested, and her son is sent away to fight, spends her days working for a vicious Nazi while doing whatever she can to protect her daughter and locate her son, and Max Bernot, a thirteen-year-old boy who, after being conscripted to participate in the Hitler Youth Program, decides to escape as soon as he has the opportunity in order to make his way home.

The prose is eloquent and expressive. The characters are courageous, vulnerable, and resilient. And the plot is a heart-wrenching, absorbing tale about life, love, loneliness, friendship, familial relationships, heartbreak, pain, war, loss, grief, guilt, hope, loyalty, and survival.

Overall, The End and the Beginning is an atmospheric, touching, beautifully written novel by Holdom that transports you to another time and place and immerses you so thoroughly into the personalities, feelings, and lives of the characters you can’t help but be affected. It is undoubtedly one of my favourite reads of the year that does an incredible job of highlighting the indomitable spirit of humanity to survive, endure, conquer, and continue to love in even the harshest of environments and situations.

 

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 K. J. Holdom

K.J. Holdom is a New Zealand writer who lives in Auckland. A former journalist, she holds a master’s in creative writing from the University of Auckland, where she won the 2018 Master of Creative Writing Prize for best manuscript. The End and the Beginning is her first novel.

Photo © Frances Oliver

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#BookReview Fall with Me by Becka Mack @SimonSchusterCA #FallWithMe #BeckaMack #PlayingforKeepsSeries #SimonSchusterCA

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#BookReview Fall with Me by Becka Mack @SimonSchusterCA #FallWithMe #BeckaMack #PlayingforKeepsSeries #SimonSchusterCA Title: Fall with Me

Author: Becka Mack

Series: Playing for Keeps #4

Published by: Simon & Schuster Canada on Jul. 30, 2024

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 510

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 9/10

It was supposed to be a one-night stand. But what if they can’t leave it in the past?

Jaxon Riley is exceptional at three things: starting fights on the ice, picking up women post-game, and going home to fulfill his role as the world’s best cat dad. Relationships, unfortunately, missed the list.

Lennon Hayes is supposed to be on her honeymoon. Instead, she’s alone and single, vacationing next door to a surly tattooed man who ran his date off the resort. When a run-in at the bar results in a night of bickering and cocktails, she finds herself tumbling into bed with the enemy next door, then sneaking out before the sun comes up.

Lennon’s plan to start over in a new city is going great, until she starts her new job. The job? The Vancouver Vipers’ new photographer. And the defenseman scowling at her from across the room? The one-night stand she wasn’t supposed to see again. Good thing neither of them are looking for anything serious… Right?

Jaxon may not be used to falling, but if he’s going to go, he refuses to go alone. If he falls, he wants Lennon to fall with him.

Review:

Spicy, steamy, and emotional!

Fall with Me is a passionate, lighthearted sports romance featuring the playful, outgoing Jaxon, who is more than happy being single and focused on his career, and the charismatic, independent Lennon who, after narrowly escaping being married to a philanderer, is now prepared to wait as long as it takes to find Mr. Right.

The writing is sultry and sincere. The characters are fun-loving, confident, and appealing. And the plot is a tantalizing mix of palpable attraction, unquenchable lust, sizzling chemistry, friendship, temptation, desire, tender moments, sexy times, and hockey.

Overall, Fall with Me is a sweet, fervent, seductive treat by Mack that is another wonderful addition to what is ultimately turning out to be an absolutely fantastic, must-read Playing for Keeps series.

 

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 Becka Mack

Becka Mack is an avid romance reader, writer, and kindergarten teacher. Becka enjoys writing swoon-worthy romances with lovable and relatable characters, loads of humor, and a healthy dose of drama on the way to a happily ever after. She lives with her husband, children, and four-legged babies in Ontario, Canada.

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#BookReview A Short Walk Through a Wide World by Douglas Westerbeke @SimonSchusterCA #AShortWalkThroughAWideWorld #DouglasWesterbeke #SimonSchusterCA

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#BookReview A Short Walk Through a Wide World by Douglas Westerbeke @SimonSchusterCA #AShortWalkThroughAWideWorld #DouglasWesterbeke #SimonSchusterCA Title: A Short Walk Through a Wide World

Author: Douglas Westerbeke

Published by: Simon & Schuster Canada on Apr. 2, 2024

Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fiction

Pages: 400

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue meets Life of Pi in this dazzlingly epic debut that charts the incredible, adventurous life of one woman as she journeys the globe trying to outrun a mysterious curse that will destroy her if she stops moving.

Paris, 1885: Aubry Tourvel, a spoiled and stubborn nine-year-old girl, comes across a wooden puzzle ball on her walk home from school. She tosses it over the fence, only to find it in her backpack that evening. Days later, at the family dinner table, she starts to bleed to death.

When medical treatment only makes her worse, she flees to the outskirts of the city, where she realizes that it is this very act of movement that keeps her alive. So begins her lifelong journey on the run from her condition, which won’t allow her to stay anywhere for longer than a few days nor return to a place where she’s already been.

From the scorched dunes of the Calashino Sand Sea to the snow-packed peaks of the Himalayas; from a bottomless well in a Parisian courtyard, to the shelves of an infinite underground library, we follow Aubry as she learns what it takes to survive and ultimately, to truly live. But the longer Aubry wanders and the more desperate she is to share her life with others, the clearer it becomes that the world she travels through may not be quite the same as everyone else’s…

Fiercely independent and hopeful, yet full of longing, Aubry Tourvel is an unforgettable character fighting her way through a world of wonders to find a place she can call home. A spellbinding and inspiring story about discovering meaning in a life that seems otherwise impossible, A Short Walk Through a Wide World reminds us that it’s not the destination, but rather the journey—no matter how long it lasts—that makes us who we are.

Review:

Poignant, hopeful, and creative!

A Short Walk Through a Wide World is an immersive, evocative tale that sweeps you away to Paris during 1885 and into the life of nine-year-old Aubry Tourvel who, after throwing her beloved wooden puzzle ball into a well, becomes inflicted with a mysterious disease that seems to only be healed by never staying in one place for more than a few days and thus begins a lifetime adventure that sees her looping the globe multiple times while experiencing such wondrous things as fishing in Greece, love on the Trans-Siberian Railroad, and the joy of perusing unimaginably vast libraries where time and space don’t even exist in order to stay alive.

The prose is vivid and rich. The characters are vulnerable, conflicted, and burdened. And the plot is a enigmatic, absorbing tale of life, love, loss, family, friendship, self-identity, magical realism, solitude, and joy.

Overall, A Short Walk Through a Wide World is a mystifying, impactful, hopeful debut by Westerbeke that combines a contemplative imagination with the magic of the supernatural to weave a heart-tugging, bittersweet tale steeped in an abundance of loneliness, optimism, tenderness, 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 Douglas Westerbeke

Douglas Westerbeke is a librarian who lives in Ohio and works at one of the largest libraries in the US. He has spent the last decade on the local panel of the International Dublin Literary Award, which inspired him to write his own book.

Photograph by Roan.

Goodreads

#BookReview The Celestial Wife by Leslie Howard @SimonSchusterCA #TheCelestialWife #LeslieHoward #SimonSchusterCA

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#BookReview The Celestial Wife by Leslie Howard @SimonSchusterCA #TheCelestialWife #LeslieHoward #SimonSchusterCA Title: The Celestial Wife

Author: Leslie Howard

Published by: Simon & Schuster Canada on Apr. 9, 2024

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 368

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 8/10

A young fundamentalist Mormon girl facing a forced marriage escapes her strict, polygamist community and comes of age in the tumultuous 1960s in this captivating novel inspired by shockingly true events.

Keep sweet no matter what, for this is the way to be lifted up
Keep sweet with every breath, for it is a matter of life or death

1964. Fifteen-year-old Daisy Shoemaker dreams of life beyond her small, isolated fundamentalist Mormon community of Redemption on the Canada—US border—despite Bishop Thorsen’s warning that the outside world is full of sin. According to the Principle, the only way to enter the celestial kingdom is through plural marriage. While the boys are taught to work in the lucrative sawmill that supports their enclave, Daisy and her best friend, Brighten, are instructed to keep sweet and wait for Placement—the day the bishop will choose a husband for them. But Daisy wants to be more than a sister-wife and a mother. So when she is placed with a man forty years her senior, she makes the daring decision to flee Redemption.

Years later, Daisy has a job and a group of trustworthy friends. Emboldened by the ideas of the feminist and counterculture movements, she is freer than she has ever been…until Brighten reaches out with a cry for help and Daisy’s past comes hurtling back. But to save the women she left behind, Daisy must risk her newfound independence and return to Redemption, where hellfire surely awaits.

For readers of Emma Cline’s The Girls and Ami McKay’s The Virgin Cure comes an arresting coming-of-age novel about a fearless young girl’s fight for freedom at a time of great historic change.

Review:

Intense, heart-tugging, and intriguing!

The Celestial Wife is a gripping, emotional tale that sweeps you away to a fundamentalist FLDS community in Redemption, British Columbia and into the life of Daisy Shoemaker, a fifteen-year-old girl who, after being married off as a sister-wife to the middle-aged Bishop of the sect, escapes to find and start a new life outside the compound until she must head back no matter the danger to herself to do whatever she can to save the best friend and mother she left behind.

The writing is crisp and expressive. The characters are vulnerable, determined, and scarred. And the plot is a compelling, hopeful tale of life, loss, secrets, resilience, abuse, friendship, revelations, childhood trauma, self-identification, and freedom.

Overall, The Celestial Wife is an eerie, fascinating, moving tale by Howard that does a beautiful job of reminding us of all the emotional, psychological, and physical effects caused by long-term manipulation, control, indoctrination, and deviant ideologies.

 

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 Leslie Howard

Leslie Howard is the instant bestselling author of The Brideship Wife. She grew up in British Columbia and developed a passion for the province’s history. She divides her time between Vancouver and Penticton, where she and her husband grow cider apples.

Photograph by Bopomo Pictures.

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