#BookReview Pendergast: The Beginning by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child @GrandCentralPub #PendergastTheBeginning #PendergastSeries #DouglasPreston #LincolnChild #GCPInsider

#BookReview Pendergast: The Beginning by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child @GrandCentralPub #PendergastTheBeginning #PendergastSeries #DouglasPreston #LincolnChild #GCPInsider Title: Pendergast: The Beginning

Series: Pendergast #23

Published by: Grand Central Publishing on Jan. 27, 2026

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 384

Format: Hardcover

Source: Grand Central Publishing

Book Rating: 9/10

From the #1 New York Times bestselling duo Preston and Child comes the Agent Pendergast origin story—a golden opportunity for longtime fans and new readers to learn about Agent Pendergast’s strange and shocking first case.

It only took six months for the life of Special Agent Dwight Chambers to crumble around him. First, he lost his partner, and then, tragically, his wife. Returning to work at the New Orleans Field Office, Chambers is dismayed to find himself saddled with mentoring a brand new FBI agent—a certain A. X. L. Pendergast. As Chambers tries to pull himself together, his enigmatic and exasperating junior partner pulls an outrageous stunt that gets both of them suspended.

Pendergast welcomes the banishment, because it gives him the opportunity to investigate a peculiar murder in Mississippi that has captured his fancy. Chambers grudgingly goes along. What starts off as a whimsical quest swiftly turns into a terrifying pursuit, as Chambers and Pendergast uncover a string of grisly, ritualistic killings that defy any known serial killer profile.
 
Thanks in large part to Pendergast’s brilliance and unorthodox methods, they solve the case and find the killer… and that is when the true horror begins.


Review:

Suspenseful, addictive, and twisty!

In this twenty-third instalment in the Pendergast series, Pendergast: The Beginning, we head back in time to 1990s New Orleans, when Agent Pendergast’s career in the FBI first began with a complex case involving a serial killer with a chilling fixation on right arms.

The writing is taut and intense. The characters are meticulous, tormented, and persistent. And the plot is a suspenseful, engrossing whodunit full of twists, turns, lies, deception, revelations, obsession, depravity, violence, and murder, all interwoven with a dab of the supernatural.

Overall, Pendergast: The Beginning is an eerie, tortuous, fast-paced tale by Preston & Child that far exceeded my expectations and does an exceptional job of highlighting just how easily evil can live among us hidden behind masks of normality.

 

This book is available now.

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

             

 

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

 

#BookReview Sunk in Love by Heather McBreen @BerkleyRomance @PenguinRandomCA #SunkInLove #HeatherMcBreen #Berkley #BerkleyPartner #PenguinReads

#BookReview Sunk in Love by Heather McBreen @BerkleyRomance @PenguinRandomCA #SunkInLove #HeatherMcBreen #Berkley #BerkleyPartner #PenguinReads Title: Sunk in Love

Author: Heather McBreen

Published by: Berkley on Jan. 27, 2026

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 432

Format: Paperback

Source: Berkley Publishing

Book Rating: 9/10

A second chance at love sets sail when a couple on the verge of divorce pretends they’re still together for one last family trip, from the author of Wedding Dashers.

Roslyn and Liam met nine years ago and have been the perfect couple ever since. Through every up and down, every milestone—from Liam’s residency to the publication of Roslyn’s debut romance—they’ve been each other’s rock. Until now.

Pulled apart by the untimely death of Roslyn’s mom and the undertow of grief, they’re now navigating the final wave in their marriage: divorce.

Heartbroken and unsure how to tell her family she’s called it quits with everyone’s favorite son-in-law, Roslyn keeps the impending split to herself. But when Roslyn’s grandparents ask if Liam can officiate their vow renewal ceremony aboard a Hawaiian cruise during their annual vacation, Roslyn needs to tell the truth or figure out a way to keep her secret. A week trapped at sea with her ex isn’t ideal, but neither Roslyn nor Liam want to rock the boat, so they concoct a plan—they’ll fake it.

After five years of marriage, they can figure out how to pretend for jungle hikes and mai tais, right? But when reality and make believe starts to blur, and old feelings begin to resurface, Roslyn and Liam have to decide whether it’s sink or swim for their marriage.


Review:

Romantic, hopeful, and sweet!

Sunk in Love is a charming second-chance romance that draws you into the life of Roslyn, a floundering, grief-stricken woman reeling from the tragic loss of her mother and the decision to step away from her marriage until a trip to Hawaii with her extended family forces her to share a cabin with her husband and pretend to still be happily married.

The writing is warm and fluid. The characters are kind, caring, and endearing. And the plot unfolds as a touching tale of family, friendship, self-discovery, healing, communication, new beginnings, tender moments, gentle drama, and heartfelt revelations.

Overall, Sunk in Love is a tender, uplifting, emotionally satisfying read by McBreen that beautifully balances poignant dilemmas with plenty of lighthearted fun, and I absolutely loved it.

 

This novel is available now.

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

         

 

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

 

About Heather McBreen

Heather McBreen currently lives in Seattle, WA, but spent the best year of her life living in London where she completed an MA degree in arts and cultural management. When she's not writing or reading books about kissing, she can be found surfing the web for travel deals and plotting her next adventure. Wedding Dashers was her debut novel.

Photo by Almodine Thompson.

#BookReview When We Were Brilliant by Lynn Cullen @BerkleyPub @PenguinRandomCA #WhenWeWereBrilliant #LynnCullen #Berkley #BerkleyPartner #PenguinReads

#BookReview When We Were Brilliant by Lynn Cullen @BerkleyPub @PenguinRandomCA #WhenWeWereBrilliant #LynnCullen #Berkley #BerkleyPartner #PenguinReads Title: When We Were Brilliant

Author: Lynn Cullen

Published by: Berkley on Jan. 20, 2026

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 400

Format: Hardcover

Source: Berkley Publishing

Book Rating: 9/10

They were an unlikely pair—a blond bombshell and a photographer determined to be taken seriously—but Marilyn Monroe and Eve Arnold would make a deal that would change their lives in this dazzling new novel from the national bestselling author of Mrs. Poe and The Woman with the Cure.

In 1952, Norma Jeane Baker follows documentary photographer Eve Arnold into a powder room on the night they first meet. She has a proposition for her. Norma Jeane created Marilyn Monroe to be photographed, and she wants Eve to do it. Eve is better than anyone she’s seen at capturing a person’s inner truth. Together they can help each other. Together, she says, they can make something brilliant.

Skeptical of this cipher of a young woman, Eve demurs. She’s looking for more serious subjects than this ambitious starlet. But she keeps getting drawn back into Marilyn’s orbit, and the women come to recognize something in each other—something fundamental. Nothing will get in the way of what they want, and when Marilyn’s star takes off to teetering heights, neither will ever be the same.

A lavish and transporting novel, When We Were Brilliant captures the halcyon days of an icon and the grit of women determining their own futures as it explores the exceptional and complicated friendship between Marilyn Monroe and Eve Arnold.


Review:

Fascinating, captivating, and rich!

When We Were Brilliant is an insightful, immersive novel set in the 1950s that draws readers into the lives of photographer Eve Arnold and her most famous subject and close friend Marilyn Monroe, through their unusual, evolving bond, the highs and lows of fame and fortune, the pressures of marriage, the ache of loss, and the toll of living under constant public scrutiny.

The prose is eloquent and expressive. The characters are hardworking, devoted, and passionate. And the plot is a compelling tale of life, love, friendship, family, glitz, glamour, jealousy, scandal, uncertainty, infidelity, ambition, and the many complexities of stardom.
 

Overall, When We Were Brilliant is a vivid, absorbing novel by Cullen that showcases her impressive research and deep understanding of both a pioneering photographer and a brilliant, misunderstood actress whose life was tragically short and painfully complicated, yet who is unfortunately too often remembered only for her beauty and sex appeal.

 

This book is available now.

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

             

 

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

 

About Lynn Cullen

Lynn Cullen’s bestselling novels, including The Woman with the Cure, The Sisters of Summit Avenue, Mrs. Poe, Twain’s End, The Creation of Eve, and Reign of Madness, have been translated into seventeen languages and are the recipients of various honors, including NPR Great Read, Oprah.com Book of the Week, People magazine Book of the Week, Indie Next List selection, and Atlanta magazine Best Books of the Year. She lives in Atlanta.

Photo by Megan Cullen Cayes.

#BookReview Ever After by Amanda Prowse @FireflyDist @AmazonPub #EverAfter #AmandaProwse #LakeUnion #FireflyDist

#BookReview Ever After by Amanda Prowse @FireflyDist @AmazonPub #EverAfter #AmandaProwse #LakeUnion #FireflyDist Title: Ever After

Author: Amanda Prowse

Published by: Lake Union Publishing on Aug. 12, 2025

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Women's Fiction

Pages: 412

Format: Paperback

Source: Firefly Distributed Lines

Book Rating: 9/10

From the bestselling author of The Girl in the Corner and Swimming to Lundy, comes a hopeful and inspiring story about the possibilities that await when you dare to start again.

If you’re given another chance at love, shouldn’t you take it?

Enya’s life has become small. Her husband’s death has left her bereft, and though she’s only in her early fifties, she’s happiest looking after her son, Aiden, his childhood sweetheart, Holly, and her beloved cat, Pickle.

So the spark she feels for the stranger who bumps into her car in the airport car park is a complete shock. But Enya can’t stop thinking about him.

Then, when Aiden makes a life-changing decision, Enya suddenly finds her close-knit community thrown into chaos. Her best friend, Jenny, isn’t speaking to her, Aiden’s future hangs in the balance, Holly is devastated, and the stranger from the car park is suddenly in her life.

Torn between family, love and loyalty, Enya faces a stay safely where she is, or take a leap into the unknown? Because maybe her happily-ever-after could have one more chapter yet…


Review:

Tender, sentimental, and optimistic!

Ever After is a charming, uplifting tale that takes you into the life of Enya, a fifty-something widow who, after her son returns from a trip to Italy in love with a new woman, has her life turned upside down when his heartbroken ex-girlfriend happens to be the daughter of her best friend, and the man she bumped into and can’t stop thinking about might just be her son’s new father-in-law.

The writing is warm and fluid. The characters are kind, attentive, and endearing. And the plot is a sweet, heartfelt blend of life, loss, friendship, grief, introspection, drama, community, parenthood, tricky situations, romantic gestures, unconditional love, and new beginnings.

Overall, Ever After is a heartwarming, hopeful, captivating tale by Prowse that is a wonderful 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 book is available now.

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

    

 

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

 

About Amanda Prowse

Amanda Prowse is an International Bestselling author whose thirty-two novels, two non-fiction titles, compilation of novellas and ten novellas have been published in dozens of languages around the world. Published by Lake Union, Amanda is the most prolific writer of bestselling contemporary fiction in the UK today; her titles also consistently score the highest online review approval ratings across several genres. Her books, including the chart-topping No.1 titles 'What Have I Done?', 'Perfect Daughter', 'My Husband's Wife', 'The Girl in the Corner' and ‘The Things I Know’ have sold millions of copies across the globe.

#BookReview This One Life by Amanda Prowse @FireflyDist @AmazonPub #ThisOneLife #AmandaProwse #LakeUnion #FireflyDist

#BookReview This One Life by Amanda Prowse @FireflyDist @AmazonPub #ThisOneLife #AmandaProwse #LakeUnion #FireflyDist Title: This One Life

Author: Amanda Prowse

Published by: Lake Union Publishing on Jan. 7, 2025

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Women's Fiction

Pages: 351

Format: Paperback

Source: Firefly Distributed Lines

Book Rating: 9/10

She wants it all. But life has other plans…

After years of hard work, Madeleine’s life is very nearly perfect. She’s about to move to LA to pursue her dream job—and there’s a new man on the scene too. But when her mother falls ill, pulling her back to the world she’s tried so hard to leave behind, the repercussions of a life-changing decision Madeleine made seven years ago resurface, threatening to jeopardise everything she’s worked for.

Faced with the promise of her new life, and the pull of her old, she has to ask herself some tough was what she did then right for her family? How do you know when it’s okay to put yourself first? And what’s the cost of happiness?

Heartfelt, provocative and emotional, this is a gripping look at the choices women have to make, and whether we really can have it all…


Review:

Charming, hopeful, and tender!⁣

This One Life is a touching, uplifting tale that takes you into the life of Madeline, a young woman who, after leaving almost everything behind to pursue her dreams seven years ago, must reevaluate her goals, career, and relationships when her mother suddenly falls ill and needs her help.⁣

The prose is heartfelt and smooth. The characters are multilayered, genuine, and conflicted. And the plot is an absorbing tale about life, love, family, friendship, self-discovery, happiness, heartbreak, taking chances, growth, healing, revelations, ambition, tender moments, light drama, romance, and new beginnings.⁣

Overall, This One Life is a beautifully written, must-read book by Prowse that tugs at the heartstrings, prompts you to consider all those what-ifs, and reminds you that life is complicated, love is powerful and everlasting, and things often happen for a reason.⁣

 

This book is available now.

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

    

 

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

 

About Amanda Prowse

Amanda Prowse is an International Bestselling author whose thirty-two novels, two non-fiction titles, compilation of novellas and ten novellas have been published in dozens of languages around the world. Published by Lake Union, Amanda is the most prolific writer of bestselling contemporary fiction in the UK today; her titles also consistently score the highest online review approval ratings across several genres. Her books, including the chart-topping No.1 titles 'What Have I Done?', 'Perfect Daughter', 'My Husband's Wife', 'The Girl in the Corner' and ‘The Things I Know’ have sold millions of copies across the globe.

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

#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.