Tag: fiction

Book Review:  Famous for a Living, by Melissa Ferguson   

Image belongs to Thomas Nelson.

Title: Famous for a Living   
Author: Melissa Ferguson  
Genre: Romance     
Rating: 4 out of 5

With her millions of followers, Cat Cranwell is adored around the world. But when an app partnership goes very, very wrong, Cat suddenly finds herself shunned from the community that not only fed her soul all these years but paid her bills. When Cat’s closest living relative, Uncle Terry, offers her a position on his staff at a small national park in Montana to get away from the city, Cat hesitantly accepts the opportunity.

What she doesn’t realize is that as the new social media strategist her goal is to save Kannery National Park from being absorbed into Glacier National Park by boosting the number of visitors. And at least one of her new colleagues—namely, handsome and rugged ranger Zaiah Hudson—thinks social media is the root of everything that’s wrong with the world.

It’s a statement to Melissa Ferguson’s writing abilities that she made me like—and even root for—a social media star, because I’m not a fan of social media or the social media obsessed. Like, at all. I spent the first third or so of the book low-key annoyed because of all the fuss about likes and follows and what other people think (Okay. The truth is that annoyed me throughout the entire book, but Cat eventually let go of that nonsense a bit.). Despite the wintry weather, I enjoyed the setting quite a bit, and the national park itself greatly intrigued me (I like to hike.). In the end, I enjoyed Cat learning how to live and enjoy a real life—instead of one filled with fakeness.

Melissa Ferguson is a bestselling author Famous for a Living is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Thomas Nelson in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: The Secret Book of Flora Lea, by Patti Callahan Henry

Image belongs to Atria Books.

Title:    The Secret Book of Flora Lea   
Author:  Patti Callahan Henry
Genre:  Historical fiction   
Rating:  5 out of 5

In the war-torn London of 1939, fourteen-year-old Hazel and five-year-old Flora are evacuated to a rural village to escape the horrors of the Second World War. Living with the kind Bridie Aberdeen and her teenage son, Harry, in a charming stone cottage along the River Thames, Hazel fills their days with walks and games to distract her young sister, including one that she creates for her sister and her sister alone—a fairy tale about a magical land, a secret place they can escape to that is all their own.

But the unthinkable happens when young Flora suddenly vanishes while playing near the banks of the river. Shattered, Hazel blames herself for her sister’s disappearance, and she carries that guilt into adulthood as a private burden she feels she deserves.

Twenty years later, Hazel is in London, ready to move on from her job at a cozy rare bookstore to a career at Sotheby’s. With a charming boyfriend and her elegantly timeworn Bloomsbury flat, Hazel’s future seems determined. But her tidy life is turned upside down when she unwraps a package containing an illustrated book called Whisperwood and the River of Stars . Hazel never told a soul about the imaginary world she created just for Flora. Could this book hold the secrets to Flora’s disappearance? Could it be a sign that her beloved sister is still alive after all these years?

As Hazel embarks on a feverish quest, revisiting long-dormant relationships and bravely opening wounds from her past, her career and future hang in the balance. An astonishing twist ultimately reveals the truth in this transporting and refreshingly original novel about the bond between sisters, the complications of conflicted love, and the enduring magic of storytelling.

I really enjoyed this read! I do love WWII fiction, but this isn’t a typical one—and it isn’t only WWII fiction. I really loved all of it, and I thought the relationship between the young sisters was so well-done and believable. Hazel is a great character, despite all her thorns and trust issues, and I loved watching the storyline of their childhood meet up with Hazel’s adult life. I highly recommend this!

Patti Callahan Henry is an award-winning and bestselling author. The Secret Book of Flora Lea is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Atria Books in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: Warrior Girl Unearthed, by Angeline Boulley    

Image belongs to Macmillan Children’s/Henry Holt and Co.

Title: Warrior Girl Unearthed       
Author: Angeline Boulley    
Genre: YA, mystery    
Rating:  4.5 out of 5

Perry Firekeeper-Birch was ready for her Summer of Slack but instead, after a fender bender that was entirely not her fault, she’s stuck working to pay back her Auntie Daunis for repairs to the Jeep.

Thankfully she has the other outcasts of the summer program, Team Misfit Toys, and even her twin sister Pauline. Together they ace obstacle courses, plan vigils for missing women in the community, and make sure summer doesn’t feel so lost after all.

But when she attends a meeting at a local university, Perry learns about the “Warrior Girl”, an ancestor whose bones and knife are stored in the museum archives, and everything changes. Perry has to return Warrior Girl to her tribe. Determined to help, she learns all she can about NAGPRA, the federal law that allows tribes to request the return of ancestral remains and sacred items. The university has been using legal loopholes to hold onto Warrior Girl and twelve other Anishinaabe ancestors’ remains, and Perry and the Misfits won’t let it go on any longer.

Using all of their skills and resources, the Misfits realize a heist is the only way to bring back the stolen artifacts and remains for good. But there is more to this repatriation than meets the eye as more women disappear and Pauline’s perfectionism takes a turn for the worse. As secrets and mysteries unfurl, Perry and the Misfits must fight to find a way to make things right – for the ancestors and for their community.

I enjoyed learning so much about the Anishinaabe tribe and culture. I found those details fascinating. Perry was a great character! She truly learned from her mistakes and grew from that knowledge, and she fully embraced her culture and heritage and determined to honor it in every way she could. I also liked the connections to Firekeeper’s Daughter.

Angeline Boulley is from Michigan. Warrior Girl Unearthed is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Macmillan Children’s/Henry Holt and Co. in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: In an Orchard Grown from Ash, by Rory Power     

Image belongs to Random House/Ballantine.

Title: In an Orchard Grown from Ash
Author:  Rory Power   
Genre:  Fantasy   
Rating: 3 

The Argyros siblings have lost everything. With their father dead and their family home captured, they’re no longer the rulers of their fractured kingdom—and no longer bound to each other.

In the frozen north, Rhea struggles to wield her newly inherited command over death and to find her place in an increasingly distrustful rebel group. Chrysanthi travels to a distant, war-torn land in search of her elusive brother Nitsos, certain that he is there on a dangerous mission to restore the family to its former glory, this time with himself at its head. And Lexos, now stripped of all his power and a political prisoner of the Domina family, is left to rot in a hauntingly desolate palace with nothing but thoughts of revenge.

Alone and farther apart than they’ve ever been, the siblings must reckon with the pain of their past and find a new path forward—or risk their own destruction.

I really enjoyed the first book in this duology, In a Garden Burning Gold; this one, however, felt like a waste of my time. I will say that I enjoyed Chrysanthi’s growth, although she felt so passive through the first 2/3rds of the story, just letting everything happen to her without taking action herself.

Nitsos was almost a non-presence in this book—and he was pointless. Lexos was useless:  all he did was whine about not having power. And Rhea…man. I really liked her in the first book. In this one, she was a terrible human being, and I just wanted her to hurry up and die already. I do not recommend this read.

Rory Power lives in New England. In an Orchard Grown From Ash is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Random House/Ballantine in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review:   The Ferryman, by Justin Cronin

Image belongs to Random House/Ballantine.

Title: The Ferryman       
Author: Justin Cronin    
Genre: Fantasy    
Rating:  3 out of 5

Founded by the mysterious genius known as the Designer, the archipelago of Prospera lies hidden from the horrors of a deteriorating outside world. In this island paradise, Prospera’s lucky citizens enjoy long, fulfilling lives until the monitors embedded in their forearms, meant to measure their physical health and psychological well-being, fall below 10 percent. Then they retire themselves, embarking on a ferry ride to the island known as the Nursery, where their failing bodies are renewed, their memories are wiped clean, and they are readied to restart life afresh.

Proctor Bennett, of the Department of Social Contracts, has a satisfying career as a ferryman, gently shepherding people through the retirement process–and, when necessary, enforcing it. But all is not well with Proctor. For one thing, he’s been dreaming–which is supposed to be impossible in Prospera. For another, his monitor percentage has begun to drop alarmingly fast. And then comes the day he is summoned to retire his own father, who gives him a disturbing and cryptic message before being wrestled onto the ferry.

Meanwhile, something is stirring. The Support Staff, ordinary men and women who provide the labor to keep Prospera running, have begun to question their place in the social order. Unrest is building, and there are rumors spreading of a resistance group–known as “Arrivalists”–who may be fomenting revolution.

Soon Proctor finds himself questioning everything he once believed, entangled with a much bigger cause than he realized–and on a desperate mission to uncover the truth.

I’m sorry, but this just felt like a chaotic, jumbled mess to me. Parts of it were interesting, parts of it were just chaotic—and most of the characters weren’t that likable. Even after finishing the novel, I’m still not 100% sure what the whole point of it was, so this was clearly not a novel for me.

Justin Cronin is a bestselling author. The Ferryman is his newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Random House/Ballantine in exchange for an honest review.)

The Best Books I Read in April (2023

In April, I read 16 books, bringing my total books read for the year to 70 books. I also DNFed seven books, which is kind of high for me. Of the 16 books I read, some of them really stood out.

Divine Rivals, by Rebecca Ross. This fantasy novel started off a teensy bit slow, then turned into a sort of of steampunk/alternate world historical fiction with a WWI feel (that was a super clear description, wasn’t it?). I loved the world and the characters, and I can’t wait to read the next book.

Silver in the Bone, by Alexandra Bracken. I love King Arthur mythology, so that alone would have been enough to make me pick this up, but the world and characters kept me glued to the page (screen) as I read this entire 500-pag-novel in one sitting. I highly recommend this!

Water from My Heart, by Charles Martin. I listened to the audio of this book. Y’all. I don’t even have words for this. Charles Martin is my favorite author—hands down. Favorite like “I’ll buy anything he writes. In hardback.” I just finished reading his Murphy Shepherd books a few months ago, and they blew me away. This book also blew me away—and the narrator was fantastic. I loved the story and the characters—and this was such a fantastic illustration of the Gospel message in a current fiction form.

What I Read in April (2023)

Books Read in April: 16
Books Read for the Year:  70/225

Topical Books/Monthly Goal Books:

Lessons at the School by the Sea, by Jenny Colgan (TBR). I thoroughly enjoyed this. So glad to see more of these characters—and I wish the random, unnecessary drama at the school wasn’t quite so accurate.

The Beauty of Spiritual Language, by Jack Hayford (spiritual).

The Last Battle, by C.S. Lewis (re-read). Loved this.

The Two Towers, by J.R.R. Tolkien (re-read). No matter how many times I read these books, they are still magical.

Iron Wolf, by Siri Pettersonh (TBR). This was dark but absolutely riveting.

Water from My Heart, by Charles Martin (audio). Wow. I have no words to even tell you how fantastic this was.

For Review:

Divine Rivals, by Rebecca Ross. I enjoyed this read, and found it quite unique. Interesting culture—but I would have liked to know a bit more about the history. I can’t wait to read the next book!

Fateful Words, by Paige Shelton. This was a solid cozy mystery. No surprises, but a fun adventure.

The Sinister Booksellers of Bath, by Garth Nix. I didn’t enjoy this quite as much as I did the first book in the series, but this was a solid read. It did feel a bit low-stakes to me, though, so I wasn’t totally invested in it.

Silver in the Bone, by Alexandra Bracken. I enjoyed this immensely! I do love a good King Arthur tale, so this caught my attention initially, but the setting and Tamsin’s voice kept me engaged—I actually read all 500 pages of this in one sitting! The only thing I didn’t like about this was the cliffhanger ending—which would have been fine if I had access to the next book immediately.

How to Best A Marquess, by Janna MacGregor. This was a fun read! I really enjoyed the characters and how this tied in with the other two books in the series.

Pieces of Me, by Kate McLaughlin. This was an interesting read, although I thought her family’s acceptance of her diagnosis was sugar coated a lot and that made the rest of the story hard to accept, too.

An American Beauty, by Shana Abe. This was a decent read. I felt pretty distant from the MC—and she was keeping secrets even from the reader, so that felt a bit off—but it was interesting.

The Ferryman, by Justin Cronin (review forthcoming). I didn’t really care for this. The writing was solid enough that I finished it, but I didn’t like the characters. The first 60% or so felt very…familiar to me, like I’d seen that basic premise done so much it just felt worn and stale. The last 40% felt like absolute chaos and nothing made sense. Even the “explanation” didn’t make sense or explain everything. I would not recommend this.

In an Orchard Grown from Ash, by Rory Power (review forthcoming). Yeah, no. I loved the first book in this duology, but three out of the four siblings in this one were either horrible, useless, or pointless—and the fourth one was useless for the first 2/3rds of the book.

Just Because:

From the Grave, by Kresley Cole. I have been waiting for this book for years! This is the only love triangle I’ve ever read where I didn’t have a favorite. I loved the rest of the series so much that I think anything would have been a bit of a letdown, so that was no surprise, but it was a fitting ending for these characters, even if I couldn’t quite see it.

Left Unfinished:

The House Is on Fire, by Rachel Beanland. The first 5% of this just absolutely didn’t catch my interest at all.

The Seaside Library, by Brenda Novak. I read about 15% of this, but the story did not feel fresh or new to me—it felt similar to other things I’d read, so I got bored quickly.

Blind Spots, by Thomas Mullen. Solid writing. This just wasn’t a good fit for me at the time.

This Isn’t Going to End Well, by Daniel Wallace. I made it about 20% of the way through this because I liked the voice, but I absolutely did not care for the narrator/author character at all.

Where Coyotes Howl, by Sandra Dallas. I read 25% of this, and, while I enjoyed it, there was no conflict. None. While that sounds good in theory, it doesn’t make for an engaging story, no matter how solid the writing is.

The Dutch Orphan, by Ellen Keith. I didn’t get very far in this, because the POV just didn’t work for me. It felt very distant, and I didn’t care for that.

Under the Cover of Mercy, by Rebecca Connolly. The MC felt very haughty and distant in the first 10%, and I just didn’t feel a connection.

Book Review and Blog Tour: Zora Books Her Happy Ever After, by Taj McCoy  

Image belongs to Harlequin/MIRA.

Title: Zora Books Her Happy Ever After       
Author: Taj McCoy    
Genre: Romance    
Rating:  2.0 out of 5

Zora has committed every inch of her life to establishing her thriving DC bookstore, making it into a pillar of the community, and she just hasn’t had time for romance. But when a mystery author she’s been crushing on for years agrees to have an event at her store, she starts to rethink her priorities. Lawrence is every bit as charming as she imagined, even if his understanding of his own books seems just a bit shallow. When he asks her out after his reading, she’s almost elated enough to forget about the grumpy guy who sat next to her making snide comments all evening. Apparently the grouch is Lawrence’s best friend, Reid, but she can’t imagine what kind of friendship that must be. They couldn’t be more different.

But as she starts seeing Lawrence, and spending more and more time with Reid, Zora finds first impressions can be deceiving. Reid is smart and thoughtful—he’s also interested. After years of avoiding dating, she suddenly has two handsome men competing for her affection. But even as she struggles to choose between them, she can’t shake the feeling that they’re both hiding something—a mystery she’s determined to solve before she can find her HEA.

This started off good:  I loved Zora herself and all of her ambition and drive to give back to her community. The friendship between her, Emma, and grandma Marion was fantastic! The eye candy—Lawrence and Reid—wasn’t bad, either.

But then I realized just how hypocritical Zora, her granny, and the other characters were. You can’t make a big production of praying before every meal and mention God in conversation—and think it’s okay to be sleeping with two different guys you barely know. You can’t have Zora’s family be so proud of her and encourage her to live out her own dreams and goals—and have granny beat her over the head with mentions of great-grandkids every other breath. And Zora, who is supposedly so self-aware and alert to the tricks of guys in the dating scene….notices the massive red flags both these guys are throwing up—and chooses to believe they’re not actually red flags at all. Um…what? So, despite starting off so promisingly, this really should have been a DNF.

Taj McCoy is from Oakland. Zora Books Her Happily Ever After is her new novel.

(Galley courtesy of Harlequin/MIRA in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: Pieces of Me, by Kate McLaughlin   

Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press.

Title: Pieces of Me        
Author: Kate McLaughlin    
Genre: YA    
Rating:  4 out of 5

When eighteen-year-old Dylan wakes up, she’s in an apartment she doesn’t recognize. The other people there seem to know her, but she doesn’t know them – not even the pretty, chiseled boy who tells her his name is Connor. A voice inside her head keeps saying that everything is okay, but Dylan can’t help but freak out. Especially when she borrows Connor’s phone to call home and realizes she’s been missing for three days.

Dylan has lost time before, but never like this.

Soon after, Dylan is diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder, and must grapple not only with the many people currently crammed inside her head, but that a secret from her past so terrible she’s blocked it out has put them there. Her only distraction is a budding new relationship with Connor. But as she gets closer to finding out the truth, Dylan wonders: will it heal her or fracture her further?

I can’t decide on this:  on the one hand, I loved how supportive Dylan’s family and best friend were of her illness and how they tried to help her. On the other, that struck me as not realistic. There’s no way that every single person in Dylan’s life would have been super supportive and bend over backwards to do everything she thought she needed while going through her diagnosis. Connor especially wasn’t believable to me, being someone she’d just met and completely understanding of what’s going on—even when one of her alters hits on him and another is a guy?

Great writing here, and the author managed to draw me into even the alters’ personalities and POVs, which I would have thought was impossible. This was an engrossing read, I’m just not sure how believable it is.

Kate McLaughlin lives in Connecticut. Pieces of Me is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: How to Best A Marquess, by Janna MacGregor

Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press.

Title: How to Best A Marquess    
Author:  Janna MacGregor   
Genre: Romance    
Rating:  4.5 out of 5

Beth Howell needs to find her dowry, post haste. After her good-for-nothing first husband married her―and two other women, unbeknownst to them all―she’s left financially ruined and relegated to living with her brother, who cares more for his horses than he does his blood relatives. If Beth fails to acquire her funds, her brother will force her to marry someone fifty years her senior and missing half his teeth. She’d prefer to avoid that dreadful fate. But her now-deceased husband, Meri, absconded with her money mere days after their illegitimate marriage. To find it, Beth will have to leave town and retrace Meri’s steps if she’s to take her future into her own hands.

Julian Raleah, Marquess of Grayson, cares not a whit for social norms and generally growls at anyone in his path. Grayson has had a heart of stone ever since his engagement to Beth Howell went down in flames―long before she married that cad, Meri, and sealed her own fate for good. But now she’s on his doorstep, asking for use of his carriage and accompaniment on the hunt to find her lost dowry. Surely Grayson cannot go on the road with the woman who has occupied his thoughts for the past decade. Yet, knowing she needs him, how can he resist helping her this one last time? And maybe that’s just enough time to change the ending to their over-too-soon love story.

Man, Beth’s brother was a real jerk! And his buddies weren’t exactly prizes, either. I’ve enjoyed The Widow Rules books very much, and I loved this one, too. I liked Beth’s determination to win through on her own—although she might have taken it a smidge too far at times. For someone who didn’t really care what the ton thought of her, she sure changed her actions because of them several times. I really liked Julian and his flirtatious, always-kind personality. This was a book I read straight through in one sitting, so if you need a weekend read, grab this.

Janna MacGregor lives in Kansas City. How to Best a Marquess is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)