Source: Publishers Group Canada

#BookReview The Postcard by Anne Berest (translated by Tina Kover) @EuropaEditions @PGCBooks #ThePostcard #AnneBerest #PGCBooks #EuropaEditions

categories: 10/10, Book Review, Historical Fiction, Nonfiction
#BookReview The Postcard by Anne Berest (translated by Tina Kover) @EuropaEditions @PGCBooks #ThePostcard #AnneBerest #PGCBooks #EuropaEditions Title: The Postcard

Author: Anne Berest

Published by: Europa Editions on May 16, 2023

Genres: Historical Fiction, Nonfiction

Pages: 464

Format: Hardcover

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 10/10

Anne Berest’s luminous, moving, and unforgettable new novel The Postcard is the most acclaimed and beloved French book in recent years.

At once a gripping investigation into family secrets, a poignant tale of mothers and daughters, and an enthralling portrait of 20th-century Parisian intellectual and artistic life, The Postcard tells the story of a family devastated by the Holocaust and yet somehow restored by love and the power of storytelling. Heartbreaking, funny, atmospheric, and a sheer joy to read, The Postcard is certain to find fans among readers of Irène Némirovsky’s Suite Française, Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life, and Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See.

January 2003. Together with the usual holiday cards, an anonymous postcard is delivered to the Berest family home. On the front, a photo of the Opéra Garnier in Paris; on the back, the four names of Anne Berest’s maternal great-grandparents, Ephraïm and Emma, and their children, Noémie and Jacques—all of whom died at Auschwitz in 1942.

Almost twenty years after the postcard is delivered, Anne is moved to discover who sent it, and why. Aided by her chain-smoking mother, countless family, friends, and associates, a private detective, a graphologist, and many others, she embarks on a journey to uncover the fate of the Rabinovitch family: their flight from Russia following the revolution, their journey to Latvia, Palestine, and Paris, the war and its aftermath. What emerges is a thrilling and sweeping tale that shatters her certainties about her family, her country, and herself.

Review:

Memorable, candid, and touching!

The Postcard is a poignant, absorbing, fictional autobiography that takes you into the life of Anne, a young woman who, after her daughter is the victim of antisemitism in the schoolyard, decides with the help of her mother to delve into her family’s past to finally discover what truly happened to her grandmother’s parents and siblings who were all arrested, imprisoned, and slaughtered in Auschwitz in 1942, and to once and for all uncover the identity of the person who in 2003 mailed a postcard to the family home that only contained a list of their names.

The prose is insightful and authentic. The characters are strong, intelligent, and determined. And the plot is an illuminating tale of life, loss, love, family, sacrifice, courage, survival, selflessness, determination, history, culture, the inconceivable horrors of war, and the special bonds that exist between mothers and daughters.

Overall, The Postcard is ultimately a heart-wrenching, affecting, personal family tale by Berest that highlights the importance and empowerment of self-identity and is a sobering reminder of all the millions of lives that were senselessly violated and lost in this heinous time in history.

 

This book is available now.

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

          

 

 

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

 

About Anne Berest

Anne Berest is the bestselling co-author of How to Be Parisian Wherever You Are (Doubleday, 2014) and the author of a novel based on the life of French writer Françoise Sagan. With her sister Claire, she is also the author of Gabriële, a critically acclaimed biography of her great-grandmother, Gabriële Buffet-Picabia, Marcel Duchamp’s lover and muse. She is the great-granddaughter of the painter Francis Picabia. For her work as a writer and prize-winning showrunner, she has been profiled in publications such as French Vogue and Haaretz newspaper. The recipient of numerous literary awards, The Postcard was a finalist for the Goncourt Prize and has been a long-selling bestseller in France.

Photograph © DR

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#BookReview The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese @PGCBooks @groveatlantic #TheCovenantofWater #AbrahamVerghese #PGCBooks

categories: 10/10, Book Review, Historical Fiction, Noteworthy Book Releases
#BookReview The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese @PGCBooks @groveatlantic #TheCovenantofWater #AbrahamVerghese #PGCBooks Title: The Covenant of Water

Author: Abraham Verghese

Published by: Grove Press on May 2, 2023

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 736

Format: Hardcover

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 10/10

From the New York Times–bestselling author of Cutting for Stone comes a stunning and magisterial new epic of love, faith, and medicine, set in Kerala and following three generations of a family seeking the answers to a strange secret.

The Covenant of Water is the long-awaited new novel by Abraham Verghese, the author of Cutting for Stone. Published in 2009, Cutting for Stone became a literary phenomenon, selling over 1.5 million copies in the United States alone and remaining on the New York Times bestseller list for over two years.

Spanning the years 1900 to 1977, The Covenant of Water is set in Kerala, on South India’s Malabar Coast, and follows three generations of a family that suffers a peculiar affliction: in every generation, at least one person dies by drowning—and in Kerala, water is everywhere. The family is part of a Christian community that traces itself to the time of the apostles, but times are shifting, and the matriarch of this family, known as Big Ammachi—literally “Big Mother”—will witness unthinkable changes at home and at large over the span of her extraordinary life. All of Verghese’s great gifts are on display in this new work: there are astonishing scenes of medical ingenuity, fantastic moments of humor, a surprising and deeply moving story, and characters imbued with the essence of life.

A shimmering evocation of a lost India and of the passage of time itself, The Covenant of Water is a hymn to progress in medicine and to human understanding, and a humbling testament to the hardships undergone by past generations for the sake of those alive today. It is one of the most masterful literary novels published in recent years.

Review:

Sensuous, poignant, and elaborately plotted!

The Covenant of Water is a powerful, riveting, emotionally-charged multi-generational story that sweeps you away to Southern India between 1900 and 1977 and into the lives of the Parambil family, especially the women, and all the secrets, smiles, tears, misery, curses, grief, compassion, strength, powerful emotions, and unimaginable tragedy that has tied them together through the years.

The prose is lyrical and expressive. The characters are multi-layered, tormented, resilient, and vulnerable. And the plot is a heart-tugging, incredibly immersive tale of life, love, loss, grief, family, friendship, ambitions, courage, desperation, self-preservation, motherhood, infectious diseases, medical interventions, and devastating genetic afflictions.

Overall, The Covenant of Water is the perfect blend of historical facts and compelling fiction. It’s a hefty book at just over 700 pages, but it’s a book that needs to be read and a book that needs to be savoured, and just like Verghese’s previous novel Cutting for Stone, it is so beautifully written, unique, impactful and memorable that I am sure to be recommending it for many years to come.

This book is available now.

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

        

 

 

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

 

About Abraham Verghese

Abraham Verghese is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and the author of books including the NBCC Award finalist My Own Country and the New York Times Notable Book The Tennis Partner. His most recent book, Cutting for Stone, spent 107 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and sold more than 1.5 million copies in the U.S. alone. It was translated into more than twenty languages and is being adapted for film by Anonymous Content. Verghese was awarded the National Humanities Medal in 2016, has received five honorary degrees, and is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. He lives and practices medicine in Stanford, California where he is the Linda R. Meier and Joan F. Lane Provostial Professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine. A decade in the making, The Covenant of Water is his first book since Cutting for Stone.

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#BookReview Exodus by Kate Stewart @authorklstewart @PGCBooks @panmacmillan #Exodus #TheRavenhoodSeries #KateStewart #PGCBooks

categories: 8/10, Book Review, Contemporary Romance, Erotica, New Adult
#BookReview Exodus by Kate Stewart @authorklstewart @PGCBooks @panmacmillan #Exodus #TheRavenhoodSeries #KateStewart #PGCBooks Title: Exodus

Author: Kate Stewart

Series: The Ravenhood #2

Published by: Pan Macmillan on May 2, 2023

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Erotica, New Adult

Pages: 384

Format: Paperback

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 8/10

The second steamy book in the Ravenhood Trilogy by #BookTok sensation and bestseller Kate Stewart.

I did what thieves do. I stole you…

What Cecilia Horner had expected to be a dull year has already been the most exciting summer of her life after she met local bad boys Sean and Dominic and their relationship developed into something altogether more dangerous.

But she is left reeling from the discovery that they are members of The Ravenhood, a secret group of vigilantes. At the head of the society is a man known as the Frenchman and he doesn’t want Cecilia anywhere near his men or his mission.

She has every reason to hate him but there’s a fine line between love and hate. And if her time in Triple Falls has taught her anything, it’s one she’s more than willing to cross.

Review:

Provocative, edgy, and sinful!

Exodus is a dramatic, sultry tale that picks up right where Flock left off, taking us back into the life of nineteen-year-old Cecilia Horner as she juggles her feelings for Sean and Dominic, two members of the Ravenhood gang who are determined to right the wrongs of the past and take her father down, and the enigmatic leader of the group, The Frenchman, Tobias King who she wants to hate with everything she has but who she’s unconsciously drawn to like a moth to a flame.

The prose is tight and steamy. The characters are impulsive, multilayered, and consumed. And the plot is a deliciously salacious tale filled with temptation, desire, danger, deception, mystique, familial drama, palpable attraction, sizzling romance, violence, and malicious intentions.

Overall, Exodus is another dark, intriguing, titillating tale by Stewart that has certainly left me more than eager to now get my hands on the last book in this Ravenhood trilogy series, The Finish Line, to see just how dramatic and sexy this could possibly get before it comes to an end.

 

This book is available now.

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

           

 

 

Thank you to PGC Books for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Kate Stewart

Bestselling author and Texas native, Kate Stewart, lives in North Carolina with her husband, Nick. Kate is a lover of all things '80s and '90s, especially John Hughes films and rap. She dabbles a little in photography, can knit a simple stitch scarf for necessity, and on occasion, does very well at whiskey.
Her series, The Ravenhood Trilogy, consisting of Flock, Exodus, and The Finish Line, has become an international bestseller, TikTok phenomenon, and reader favourite.

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#BookReview The Stolen Hours by Karen Swan @KarenSwan1 @PGCBooks @panmacmillan #TheStolenHours #TheWildIsleSeries #KarenSwan #PGCBooks

categories: 10/10, Book Review, Historical Fiction, Noteworthy Book Releases
#BookReview The Stolen Hours by Karen Swan @KarenSwan1 @PGCBooks @panmacmillan #TheStolenHours #TheWildIsleSeries #KarenSwan #PGCBooks Title: The Stolen Hours

Author: Karen Swan

Series: The Wild Isle #2

Published by: Pan Macmillan on May 2, 2023

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 432

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 10/10

A reluctant bride. A forbidden romance. An island full of secrets . . .

It’s the summer of 1929 and Mhairi MacKinnon is in need of a husband. As the eldest girl among nine children, her father has made it clear he can’t support her past the coming winter. On the small, Scottish island of St Kilda, her options are limited. But the MacKinnons’ neighbour, Donald, has a business acquaintance on distant Harris also in need of a spouse. A plan is hatched for Donald to chaperone Mhairi and make the introduction on his final crossing of the year, before the autumn seas close them off to the outside world.

Mhairi returns as an engaged woman who has lost her heart – but not to her fiancé. In love with the wrong man yet knowing he can never be hers, she awaits the spring with growing dread, for the onset of calm waters will see her sent from home to become a stranger’s wife.

When word comes that St Kilda is to be evacuated, the lovers are granted a few months’ reprieve, enjoying a summer of stolen hours together. Only, those last days on St Kilda will also bring trauma and heartache for Mhairi and her friends, Effie and Flora. And when a dead body is later found on the abandoned isle, all three have reason enough to find themselves under the shadow of suspicion . . .

Review:

Absorbing, passionate, and thrilling!

The Stolen Hours is a compelling tale that sweeps you away to 1929 and into the life of Mhairi MacKinnon, one of Effie’s best friends and another one of the thirty-six inhabitants of the small island of St. Kilda, who, on her brief travels to Harris to meet the man she will likely become engaged to, realizes the one she truly loves but who is already sworn to another has always been living right beside her, and when the government decides to evacuate the island villagers and move them permanently to the mainland, time is running out, her new married life is about to begin, and with a heart shattered to pieces and the life she always wanted merely now but a dream she may also have more than one reason to want the de facto ruler of the island, Frank Mathieson, dead.

The writing is expressive and rich. The characters are hardworking, fierce, and loyal. And the plot is an enchanting tale of life, loss, family, friendship, community, drama, mystery, intrigue, responsibilities, expectations, heartbreak, and forbidden love.

Overall, The Stolen Hours is another mysterious, captivating, highly immersive tale by Swan that kept me engaged from start to finish with its rugged depictions of island living and layered, complex, romantic entanglements and even though it’s only the second book in The Wild Isle trilogy, I can already tell this is definitely going to be one of my favourite historical fiction series of all time.

This book is available now.

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

         

 

 

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

 

About Karen Swan

Karen Swan began her career in fashion journalism before giving it all up to raise her three children and a puppy, and to pursue her ambition of becoming a writer. She lives in the forest outside Sussex, England, writing her books in a treehouse overlooking the Downs.

An internationally bestselling author, her numerous books include The Rome Affair, The Paris Secret, Christmas Under the Stars, and The Christmas Secret. 

Photograph by Alexander James

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#BookReview My Father’s House by Joseph O’Connor @EuropaEditions @PGCBooks #JosephOConnor #MyFathersHouse #RomeEscapeLineTrilogy #PGCBooks

categories: 9/10, Book Review, Historical Fiction
#BookReview My Father’s House by Joseph O’Connor @EuropaEditions @PGCBooks #JosephOConnor #MyFathersHouse #RomeEscapeLineTrilogy #PGCBooks Title: My Father's House

Author: Joseph O'Connor

Series: Rome Escape Line Trilogy #1

Published by: Europa Editions on Feb. 1, 2023

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 440

Format: Hardcover

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 9/10

From the acclaimed, bestselling author of Star of the Sea and winner of the 2021 Irish Book Awards Book of the Year for Shadowplay, comes a gripping and atmospheric new novel set in occupied Rome.

September 1943: German forces have Rome under their control. Gestapo boss Paul Hauptmann rules over the Eternal City with vicious efficiency. Hunger is widespread. Rumors fester. The war’s outcome is far from certain. Diplomats, refugees, Jews, and escaped Allied prisoners flee for protection into Vatican City, the world’s smallest state, a neutral, independent country nestled within the city of Rome. A small band of unlikely friends led by a courageous Irish priest is drawn into deadly battle of wits as they attempt to aid those seeking refuge.

My Father’s House is inspired by the extraordinary true story of Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty, who, together with his accomplices, risked his life to smuggle Jews and escaped Allied prisoners out of Italy right under the nose of his Nazi nemesis. Suspenseful and beautifully written, My Father’s House tells an unforgettable story of love, faith, sacrifice, and courage.

Review:

Suspenseful, immersive, and intriguing!

My Father’s House is an absorbing, gripping tale set in Vatican City during WWII that follows Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty, an Irish envoy to the Vatican who, after witnessing the oppression and horror encountered by the allies, resistance, and Jewish people captured by the Nazi’s in Italy under the direction of Obersturmbannführer Hauptmann, devises an escape plan codenamed “Rendimento” with a small group of individuals who call themselves “The Choir” to help as many victims as possible escape through the secret passageways, tunnels and safety offered by the Holy See on the night of Christmas Eve.

The prose is polished and eloquent. The characters are creative, driven, and determined. And the plot unravels and intertwines briskly into a sweeping saga of life, loss, betrayal, secrets, espionage, danger, deception, survival, coordination, ethics, and tragedy.

Overall, My Father’s House is an absorbing, mysterious, brilliantly plotted tale by O’Connor inspired by real-life events that, at its heart, highlights that preventing evil from running amok often involves moral dilemmas, exceptional courage, strength, action, and beyond all else, sacrifice.

This novel is available now.

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

            

 

 

 

Thank you to Publishers Group Canada for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Joseph O'Connor

Joseph O’Connor was born in Dublin. He is the author of the novels Cowboys and Indians (short-listed for the Whitbread Prize), Desperadoes , The Salesman , Inishowen , Star of the Sea and Redemption Falls , as well as a number of bestselling works of non-fiction.

He was recently voted ‘Irish Writer of the Decade’ by the readers of Hot Press magazine. He broadcasts a popular weekly radio diary on RTE’s Drivetime With Mary Wilson and writes regularly for The Guardian Review and The Sunday Independent. In 2009 he was the Harman Visiting Professor of Creative Writing at Baruch College, the City University of New York.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Website.

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#BookReview Burial of Ghosts by Ann Cleeves @AnnCleeves @PGCBooks #BurialofGhosts #AnnCleeves #PGCBooks

categories: 8.5/10, Book Review, Mystery/Thriller
#BookReview Burial of Ghosts by Ann Cleeves @AnnCleeves @PGCBooks #BurialofGhosts #AnnCleeves #PGCBooks Title: Burial of Ghosts

Author: Ann Cleeves

Published by: Pan Macmillan on Jan. 24, 2023

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 339

Format: Hardcover

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

A classic psychological thriller, available for the first time in Canada, from the New York Times bestselling author of the Shetland, Vera Stanhope, and Two Rivers series, Ann Cleeves.

Abandoned as a baby, twenty-five-year-old Lizzie Bartholomew spent her childhood moving between foster homes and has had more than her fair share of troubles.

Now a holiday in Morocco seems to be the perfect escape. Especially when she meets Philip, a fellow tourist. After a brief affair, Lizzie returns to England, only to find a solicitor’s letter waiting for her.

Philip Samson has died and in his will, has left Lizzie a gift of £15,000. But there are conditions attached to this unexpected legacy that will soon force Lizzie to confront terrifying secrets from her past life.

Burial of Ghosts is a page-turning, edge of your seat thriller from superstar crime writer Ann Cleeves, author and creator of three astounding TV series: Shetland, Vera, and The Long Call.

Review:

Simmering, tight, and mysterious!

Burial of Ghosts is a tense, twisty tale that introduces us to Lizzie Bartholomew, a young social worker who, after experiencing a tragic incident at work, takes a leave of absence to Morocco, where she indulges in some rest, relaxation and a one-night stand with an older man she believes she will never see or hear from again only to return from vacation to find a letter from his solicitor informing her that Philip has died and has left her a sizeable inheritance linked to a stipulated request that will ultimately turn her life upside down, make her a possible suspect in a grizzly murder, and will cause her own secrets from the past to rear their ugly heads.

The writing is sharp and brisk. The characters are flawed, unreliable, and troubled. And the plot using flashbacks and a back-and-forth style intertwines and unravels into an ominous tale of twists, turns, lies, deception, corruption, suspicions, revelations, mayhem, familial drama, and murder.

Overall, Burial of Ghosts is an atmospheric, sinister, satisfying tale by Cleeves that does a wonderful job of highlighting that she’s not only the queen of police procedural series, but also a pretty good standalone psychological thriller writer as well.

 

This book is available now.

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

        

 

 

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

 

About Ann Cleeves

Ann Cleeves is the author behind PBS’s Vera and BBC One’s Shetland. She has written over twenty-five novels, and is the creator of detectives Vera Stanhope and Jimmy Perez – characters loved both on screen and in print. Her books have now sold over 1 million copies worldwide.

Ann worked as a probation officer, bird observatory cook and auxiliary coastguard before becoming a crime writer. She is a member of ‘Murder Squad’, working with other British northern writers to promote crime fiction. In 2006 Ann was awarded the Duncan Lawrie Dagger (CWA Gold Dagger) for Best Crime Novel, for Raven Black, the first book in her Shetland series, and in 2012 she was inducted into the CWA Crime Thriller Awards Hall of Fame. Ann lives in North Tyneside, England.

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#BookReview Better the Blood by Michael Bennett @PGCBooks @groveatlantic #BettertheBlood #MichaelBennett #PGCBooks

categories: 8.5/10, Book Review, Mystery/Thriller
#BookReview Better the Blood by Michael Bennett @PGCBooks @groveatlantic #BettertheBlood #MichaelBennett #PGCBooks Title: Better the Blood

Author: Michael Bennett

Published by: Atlantic Monthly Press on Jan. 10, 2023

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 336

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

An absorbing, clever debut thriller that speaks to the longstanding injustices faced by New Zealand’s indigenous peoples, by an acclaimed Māori screenwriter and director

A tenacious Māori detective, Hana Westerman juggles single motherhood, endemic prejudice, and the pressures of her career in Auckland CIB. Led to a crime scene by a mysterious video, she discovers a man ritualistically hanging in a secret room and a puzzling inward-curving inscription. Delving into the investigation after a second, apparently unrelated, death, she uncovers a chilling connection to an historic crime: 160 years before, during the brutal and bloody British colonization of New Zealand, a troop of colonial soldiers unjustly executed a Māori Chief.

Hana realizes that the murders are utu—the Māori tradition of rebalancing for the crime committed eight generations ago. There were six soldiers in the British troop, and since descendants of two of the soldiers have been killed, four more potential murders remain. Hana is thus hunting New Zealand’s first serial killer.

The pursuit soon becomes frighteningly personal, recalling the painful event, two decades before, when Hana, then a new cop, was part of a police team sent to end by force a land rights occupation by indigenous peoples on the same ancestral mountain where the Chief was killed, calling once more into question her loyalty to her roots. Worse still, a genealogical link to the British soldiers brings the case terrifyingly close to Hana’s own family. Twisty and thought-provoking, Better the Blood is the debut of a remarkable new talent in crime fiction.

Review:

Meticulous, sharp, and engaging!

Better the Blood is a sinister, gripping tale featuring the relentless Auckland CIB detective Hana Westerman and her partner DC Stanley Riordan as they hunt down a cold, calculating, indigenous serial killer driven to exact revenge on six colonial soldiers who were immortalized in a photo from 160 years ago murdering a Māori Chief by making their ancestors pay for their sins.

The writing is crisp and tight. The characters are flawed, tormented, and hardworking. And the plot is a tightly-paced, ominous tale full of twists, turns, surprises, manipulation, guilt, injustice, violence, and murder.

Overall, Better the Blood is an intricately woven, informative, highly entertaining mystery by Bennett with a nice amount of suspense, good character development, great pace, and an insightful look into the history, culture, oppression, and struggles of the Māori people in New Zealand.

 

This book is available now.

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

           

 

 

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

 

About Michael Bennett

Michael Bennett (Ngati Pikiao, Ngati Whakaue)is an award-winning screenwriter, director, and author whose films have been selections at major festivals, including Cannes, Berlin, Toronto, and New York. His nonfiction book, In Dark Places, which explored an infamous miscarriage of justice, won awards, and his young adult graphic novel, Helen and the Go-Go Ninjas, was a finalist for the 2019 New Zealand Book Awards.

Photo courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.

Goodreads

#BookReview Flock by Kate Stewart @authorklstewart @PGCBooks @panmacmillan #Flock #TheRavenhoodSeries #KateStewart #PGCBooks

categories: 8/10, Book Review, Contemporary Romance, Erotica, New Adult
#BookReview Flock by Kate Stewart @authorklstewart @PGCBooks @panmacmillan #Flock #TheRavenhoodSeries #KateStewart #PGCBooks Title: Flock

Author: Kate Stewart

Series: The Ravenhood #1

Published by: Pan Macmillan on Dec. 12, 2022

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Erotica, New Adult

Pages: 368

Format: Paperback

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 8/10

In your heart of hearts, if you didn’t have to choose, would you?

The deal is simple: all nineteen-year-old student Cecilia Horner has to do is survive a year in the small town of Triple Falls, living with her estranged father and working at his factory. In return, he’ll not only pay her college tuition, but will hand over a small fortune that will enable Cecilia to help her single mother.

But everything changes when she meets sexy local Sean on her first day of work. He introduces her to his close-knit circle of friends – including the enigmatic Dominic – a group who live by their own rules and brandish the same raven tattoo.

Cecilia has always played it safe but, blinded by her growing feelings for Sean and Dominic, she’s determined to enjoy her last summer of freedom and be open to new experiences no matter where they might lead.

Review:

Dark, sensual, and gritty!

Flock is a spicy, seductive romance that takes you on a journey into the life of Cecilia Horner, a nineteen-year-old woman who, after having to relocate to the small town of Triple Falls to live with her father and work at the factory he owns, inadvertently finds herself swept off her feet by the ruggedly handsome, Sean who is not only her newly appointed supervisor at work but a member of a group of locals who sport the same raven tattoo and whose leader, Dominic is sinfully delicious and more than happy to share.

The writing is titillating and smooth. The characters are intense, consumed, and impulsive. And the plot is a fast-paced, salacious tale full of danger, desire, temptation, mystique, chemistry, deception, secrets, and sizzling romance.

Overall, Flock is a tension-filled, dramatic, erotic thrill ride that has just the right amount of mystery, sex, bad-boy vibes, and complex characters to keep you engaged from start to finish. It’s the perfect start to The Ravenhood series by Stewart, and I can’t wait to read what happens to this group of misfits next in Exodus, releasing later this spring.

 

This book is available now.

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

           

 

 

Thank you to PGC Books for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Kate Stewart

Bestselling author and Texas native, Kate Stewart, lives in North Carolina with her husband, Nick. Kate is a lover of all things '80s and '90s, especially John Hughes films and rap. She dabbles a little in photography, can knit a simple stitch scarf for necessity, and on occasion, does very well at whiskey.
Her series, The Ravenhood Trilogy, consisting of Flock, Exodus, and The Finish Line, has become an international bestseller, TikTok phenomenon, and reader favourite.

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#BookReview The Party House by Lin Anderson @PGCBooks @panmacmillan #ThePartyHouse #LinAnderson #PGCBooks

categories: 7.5/10, Book Review, Mystery/Thriller
#BookReview The Party House by Lin Anderson @PGCBooks @panmacmillan #ThePartyHouse #LinAnderson #PGCBooks Title: The Party House

Author: Lin Anderson

Published by: Pan Macmillan on Jan. 10, 2023

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 368

Format: Hardcover

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 7.5/10

The Party House by Lin Anderson is a deeply atmospheric psychological thriller set in the Scottish Highlands, for fans of Lucy Foley, Ruth Ware and Sarah Pearse’s The Sanatorium.

Devastated by a recent pandemic brought in by outsiders, the villagers of Blackrig in the Scottish Highlands are outraged when they find that the nearby estate plans to reopen its luxury ‘party house’ to tourists.

As animosity sparks amongst the locals, part of the property is damaged and, in the ensuing chaos, the body of a young girl is found in the wreck. Seventeen-year-old Ailsa Cummings went missing five years ago, never to be seen again – until now.

The excavation of Ailsa’s remains ignites old suspicions cast on the men of this small community, including Greg, the estate’s gamekeeper. At the beginning of a burgeoning relationship with a new lover, Joanne, Greg is loath to discuss old wounds. Frightened by Greg’s reaction to the missing girl’s discovery, Joanne begins to doubt how well she knows this new man in her life. Then again, he’s not the only one with secrets in their volatile relationship . . .

Review:

Dark, suspenseful, and unnerving!

The Party House is an engrossing, ominous tale that transports you to Scotland post-pandemic and into the lives of the Blackrig villagers, especially estate gamekeeper Greg, as they juggle with their feelings for the reopening of the posh, local estate where parties were always wild, rules were flounted, COVID was transmitted killing six of their own treasured souls, and where it now also seems to be the burial site for the body of a missing teen.

The prose is tight and intense. The characters are wary, secretive, and troubled. And the plot, told from alternating perspectives, unravels quickly into a gripping tale full of twists, turns, shocking revelations, lies, deception, indulgence, depravity, jealousy, violence, and murder.

Overall, The Party House is a sinister, entertaining, intense stand-alone thriller by Anderson that does a wonderful job of combining the isolating atmosphere of The Scottish Highlands with unsavoury characters, poor choices, and eerie motivations.

 

This book is available now.

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

              

 

 

Thank you to PGC Books for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Lin Anderson

Lin Anderson is a Scottish author and screenwriter known for her bestselling crime series featuring forensic scientist Dr Rhona MacLeod. Four of her novels have been longlisted for the Scottish Crime Book of the Year, with Follow the Dead being a 2018 finalist. Her short film River Child won both a Scottish BAFTA for Best Fiction and the Celtic Film Festival’s Best Drama award and has now been viewed more than one million times on YouTube. Lin is also the co-founder of the international crime writing festival Bloody Scotland, which takes place annually in Stirling.

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#BookReview The Choice by Penny Hancock @Pennyhancock @PGCBooks @MantleBooks #TheChoice #PennyHancock #PGCBooks

categories: 8/10, Book Review, General Fiction, Mystery/Thriller
#BookReview The Choice by Penny Hancock @Pennyhancock @PGCBooks @MantleBooks #TheChoice #PennyHancock #PGCBooks Title: The Choice

Author: Penny Hancock

Published by: Mantle Books on Jan. 10, 2023

Genres: General Fiction, Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 336

Format: Hardcover

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 8/10

Renee Gulliver appears to have it all: a beautiful house overlooking a scenic estuary on England’s East Coast; a successful career as a relationship therapist; three grown up children; and a beloved grandson, Xavier. But things aren’t always as they seem on the surface, as Renee is all too aware. And when Xavier vanishes after she fails to pick him up from school one day, the repercussions are manifold.

Renee is wracked with remorse; her daughter Mia can’t forgive her; the local community question her priorities; and her clients abandon her. But as long-held family secrets threaten to tear her world apart once and for all, those same secrets might also hold hope for the future — because it’s not always the secret itself that has the power to destroy; sometimes it’s the act of keeping of it . . .

For fans of Hannah Beckerman and Lucy Diamond, Penny Hancock’s The Choice is a beautiful, haunting novel about family secrets and silences — and the power of love.

Review:

Complex, thought-provoking, and engaging!

The Choice is a multilayered, emotional, domestic drama that delves into all the complexities, dynamics, and dysfunction that exist in the familial relationships of the Gulliver family, including the long-lasting effects of secrets and the art of forgiveness.

The prose is mysterious and smooth. The characters are hesitant, conflicted, and troubled. And the plot is a well-paced, pensive tale about life, loss, love, tragedy, resentment, regret, guilt, grief, familial drama, self-reflection, friendship, and absolution.

Overall, The Choice is a rich, immersive, absorbing tale by Hancock that reminds us that life is complicated and messy, and even the smallest choices we make often have far-reaching consequences.

 

This book is available now.

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

           

 

 

Thank you to Publishers Group Canada for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Penny Hancock

Penny grew up in South East London and then did an English degree in Newcastle Upon Tyne. For several years she taught English as a foreign language in Italy, Greece and Morocco. She then took a PGCE, got a job as a Primary school teacher in an inner city London school, and moved into her partner Andy’s short-life house in East London, which is now part of the hardcore under the M11 that links their new home in Cambridge with her birth place in Greenwich!

While bringing up their three children, she continued to teach in primary schools, taught English to asylum seekers, and ran adult education classes in writing. She also wrote articles for various papers (The Independent, The Guardian, The Times Ed, The Sunday Express magazine, and Child Education, amongst others) specialising in family and education. Penny has also written readers for English language learners for Cambridge University Press, and a Primary English course for children published by Longmans. It was an Arvon writing course and an MA in creative writing at Anglia Ruskin University that encouraged her to complete her first novel.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.

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