Tag: family

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#BookReview: Florida Palms by Joe Pan

Update The Outsiders To 2009 ish Florida And You Have This Book. Seriously, this is one case where the publisher got the first line of the description (at least as it exists on publication day) 100% spot on. While there is perhaps more here than many will be comfortable with allowing even in high schools, much less younger ages, this is also absolutely a book that should be at least on the recommended lists for college level ENGL courses.

Speaking of things that are perhaps a touch rough for younger readers – and that many adults prefer not to read themselves, let’s dispense with a bit of a listing here: the entire damn book centers around a drug gang and the relationships within it and on its boundaries. There is a fair amount of sex – not erotica level, and really more “fade to black” than anything, but still, more than most will be comfortable with particularly younger readers being exposed to. The violence is at least as intense as The Outsiders, but with a more gun focus rather than the 50s era knives and fists. There are also some rather graphic and disturbing scenes of hunting, including hunting endangered animals that have only recently been brought back from the brink of full extinction through much human effort.

Aside from the above though, this really is quite a strong book. Yes, at least as strong as Hinton’s famous masterpiece – though one presumes Pan would prefer to have a follow up that gets as much acclaim as the first. Based on what we have here, this reader in particular would love to see what Pan can do when he *doesn’t* have a lifetime building up to this day – the day I write this review being release day of the book, despite having had it for several months. It happens to be my 98th completed read this year, and I’ve read 134 books since picking this one up from NetGalley on November 30, 2024.

At nearly 500 pages, this book doesn’t *quite* qualify as a “tome”, yet is also nearly 50% longer than most books even I read, and certainly one of the longer non-scifi/ fantasy books I’ve read. Looking back in my records, I’ve only read 8 books longer than this one that were neither nonfiction nor scifi/ fantasy since my spreadsheet began at the beginning of 2019. But perhaps you’re a reader that prefers such longer books. In which case, you’re going to love this one. If you’re a reader that generally prefers shorter-than-this books… well, I still thought this one worked well even with its length, and I urge you to give it a try. Either way, if you do read it, make sure you leave your own review and let us all know what you thought of the length here. 🙂

Again, for me this was absolutely a strong debut, truly a modernized Outsiders – which is high praise, as I, like so many Americans, truly cherish that story – and is thus…

Very Much Recommended.

This review of Florida Palms by Joe Pan was originally written on July 22, 2025.

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#BookReview: The Lake Escape by Jamie Day

Complex Web Of Secrets. You’re in your 30’s/ 40’s or so – old enough to have mid teen kids yourself – and you’ve been going to the same lake houses for literally decades at this point with the same neighbor families, so you’ve effectively grown up with these people. Considered them close friends. Perhaps even family. You know you know them.

But do you? Do they know you? Do you as a collective know all the secrets the lake – or even the houses you’ve come to all these years – may hold?

You have your secrets. They have theirs. The lake has its.

All is about to be revealed…

(Yeah, yeah. I don’t normally do a version of a description for a review, but seriously, *for this book*, I think the above is largely the best way to do the review. There are elements here that some will love and some will hate – there are a lot of characters and at least a few different narrators here, and the book takes over 350 pages to tell a somewhat simple (at a high level at least) tale. Breakneck action, this is not. But it *was* a *really* good tale of relatable friends and family… even when some of them are pretty open scumbags. The tale is rather dark, and there are no white knights to be had here. Just a group of people doing the best they can in rather interesting and stressful situations. So give this book a chance, read it, and write your own review and let us know what *you* thought about it.)

Very much recommended.

This review of The Lake Escape by Jamie Day was originally written on July 16, 2025.

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#BookReview: The Blue Horse by Bruce Borgos

Rich And Multilayered Story Marred By Emphasis On COVID. At one point during/ after the world collapse due to COVID-19, I had an ironclad star deduction policy for any mention of COVID whatsoever. One line referencing it even obliquely was usually enough to trigger it. I’ve relaxed that policy over the years and no longer apply it for such one off/ tangential references, so long as they are minimal and don’t actually impact the story beyond an attempt to acknowledge the reality of setting any story in that period of world history.

This noted, I absolutely still apply it religiously when a story makes COVID a primary focus of the story… and unfortunately that happens here. Borgos could have used almost literally anything else to achieve some of the same ends he uses COVID for here, and it would have worked reasonably well – hell, some of them could have even tied into themes from earlier in the series. But he chose to use COVID, and that is damnable to many – and a major issue for me. Enough to warrant the star deduction, at minimum.

One of the other major themes here is perhaps just as volatile, if more locally – that of Nevada’s wild horses and what should be done about them. This story plays out across the entire book, and Borgos seemingly does a solid job of showing the strengths and weaknesses of both sides. I say “seemingly” here as as a native of the borderlands between Appalachia and Atlanta, I can certainly count on both hands the number of times I’ve even been west of the Mississippi River – and I’m pretty sure I can count them on one hand. I’ve only been west of Texas *once* – a weekend nearly 20 yrs ago in Phoenix, Arizona. Thus, I don’t really know anything at all about how Nevadans feel about this issue one way or the other, and unlike Borgos, this isn’t something I’ve spent a lifetime in and around- culturally, at minimum. (Now, if the issue is the American Civil War… different story. But that particular topic doesn’t apply to this book. :D)

Outside of these issues (and even inside of them, to a degree), this is a police procedural in form and format, if a more interesting/ less typical version of the sub genre in its particulars. Throughout this series, Borgos has made a truly interesting and compelling character in Porter Beck, a fully fleshed out, heroic yet flawed in his own ways, man of his world. Supporting characters, including Beck’s dad and sister, are equally compelling, and even other relationships come across as all too realistic, particularly as things develop further in this book with these relationships. Even secondary characters such as the various suspects of this book are fleshed out much better than other authors generally do, including some rather horrific backstories that have enough detail to them that they seem based on at least generalizations of specific real world people and events. Indeed, once one gets beyond the COVID and beyond the horse issue- both central to this particular story, to be clear – and perhaps beyond the issues of foreign ownership and mining also discussed here, though less prominently and in far less detail, the actual story here between the various characters themselves is actually quite strong, and everyone plays their roles rather superbly.

Borgos has done an excellent job of building this world in a realistic, complex manner that reflects on the real world issues of its place and time in a manner that provides food for thought for all involved and for those completely unfamiliar with the area or its issues, and in so doing presents a solid story for all readers, but particularly male readers who may be looking for more male-oriented books that don’t have the problems that more extreme forms of entertainment and/ or discussion all too often have.

Very much recommended.

This review of The Blue Horse by Bruce Borgos was originally written on July 13, 2025.

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#BookReview: Falling For You Again by Kerry Lonsdale

Lonsdale At Her Absolute Best. Gah. These past couple of weeks. So very much going on. My wife had a widowmaker type heart attack, survived while having 2 stents placed in arteries 90 and 100% blocked, and is having a stent placed in her 80% blocked widowmaker artery later this week. Lonsdale herself suffering an unimaginable personal tragedy that is unfortunately all too common – even one of my own aunts has suffered it, and then we get to the dozens of people – including kids – dead in the Texas flash floods less than a week after Lonsdale’s tragedy. Bill Goldberg is facing his retirement match in Atlanta this weekend, and his own father died a week before that match. All the neverending political bullshit. Even I’m facing direct challenges in my own life that in some cases even my wife isn’t as fully aware of just how much they’re weighing on me as maybe she should be, things that few beyond family would even care about – if even them – and which I doubt I’ll ever publicly discuss.

And then we get to this book.

Escapism at its absolute finest, but with so many layers so expertly and intricately crafted that it pulls at the heart just enough for catharsis without delving into pain. That exquisitely powerful balance that the singular best description I’ve ever found of it (so far?) was the moment in XMen: First Class where Charles is teaching Erik to harness his full power and move the (60s era giant) satellite dish some distance away. Lonsdale, in this second chance romance book with various things that will irk various readers, manages to capture that feeling so well without ever even acknowledging it.

This is a romance for the real person. The flawed person. The one with flawed parents. Even the one without parents any longer. The one who just wants to do their job, do it well, and go home to be with their cat and their friends. (Sorry, dog lovers. This is a cat book. Read it anyway.)

If you need your romance books characters to be some idealized Superman or Wonder Woman, well, this book isn’t really for you – but you should still read it anyway, because it will pull at even your hardened heart strings.

If you need ghost pepper level spice in your romance books, again, this book isn’t really for you – but read it anyway and discover how there is so much more to love than just the physical.

If you need your books to have some kind of political messaging, again, not the book for you. Read it anyway and discover the power of *real* relationships, where love and community hold sway over the raw desire for domination and subjugation.

Read this book because as excellent as Lonsdale’s books have been over the years, whether it be the early “Everything” trilogy of romances or the more recent women’s fiction books of the “No More” trilogy and Find Me In California, this really is Lonsdale at her absolute best yet.

And I am 100% honest in saying that of the 90 books I’ve read this year upon finishing this one, this is absolutely in contention for best of the year, certainly for best of the year so far.

Very much recommended.

This review of Falling For You Again by Kerry Lonsdale was originally written on July 8, 2025.

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#BookReview: 30Seven by Jeremy Robinson

Rare (Possibly Unique?) Genre Bender/ Blender From The New God Of Science Fiction.

Every damn time I say “this is Jeremy Robinson at his absolute best”, he comes out with another book even better – usually with the very next book. 😀

Here, we get the kick ass scifi action Robinson gained his following for – he’s never going to go far from that, in my experience having read every book he’s written. But we *also* get an emotional depth that is sometimes less prevalent in his tales, and here we get it to the levels of his most emotional books to date such as The Distance or Alter. Indeed, it even harkens back all the way to The Last Hunter in some ways, with being even more blatant about just how much a father loves his son.

But then… the genre bending. Some of it, I’m not going to even hint at here, as it would be a massive spoiler. But I *can* say, given that Robinson has used this particular blend at other times (notably in the “Infinite Timeline”‘s The Dark), that the horror here is some of the darkest, sickest, most vile horror I’ve seen on page in quite some time – the kind of horror that makes you question even friends you’ve known online for approaching two decades and have even shared a few meals with in real life over the years. The other bit of genre bending though… you’re going to have to read this book. It was done at least as well as anything else here, but you’ll get no hints from me as to what it is. I will say that as good as the scifi/ horror itself is, this particular addition makes the story here *that much stronger*, and even though Robinson has never gone this direction before, he actually manages to pull it off at least as well as others who write in this space for their careers. Maybe even better.

As with so many of his books of late, there is also a fair amount of meta-commentary here, including one bit where even I had to tell him “You’re starting to convince me that you actually enjoy the frequent political complaints from both sides thinking they know you. “. So before you even get to that line in particular (and no I’m not revealing it), just know that *I* have known this man for nearly 20 yrs. We met in *Myspace*. I’ve read every book he has written, and I’ve even hung out with him at the annual (since 2015 or so) Robinsonfest event a few times, including both 2023 and 2024 when it was in St. Augustine, FL, near my home in Jacksonville. And even *I* can’t tell you his actual positions on any political or religious point. So if you think you know him better than I do… a few people do. His family. His long time editor. Several close friends, including several fans. Outside of those specific people… no, you most likely do not. Still, I invite you to read this book and write your own review of it, and if you feel you must call him out for some perceived political or religious sin… so be it. Just know that I for one am going to laugh my ass off when I see you do it. 🙂

Overall, this really was Robinson at his absolute best to date, pushing himself in directions I honestly never saw coming from him. Thus, almost no matter what your particular reading preference is… you need to put this one on your TBR. You’re going to want to experience this tale from a true Master of his craft.

Very much recommended.

This review of 30Seven by Jeremy Robinson was originally written on July 6, 2025.

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#BlogTour: Grave Birds by Dana Elmendorf

For this blog tour, we’re looking at another strong Southern Gothic tale that serves as an emerging author’s sophomore effort for adult readers. For this blog tour, we’re looking at Grave Birds by Dana Elmendorf.

First, the review I posted to the book sites (BookBub.com / BookHype.com / Goodreads.com / PageBound.co / TheStoryGraph.com) and YouTube:

Strong Southern Gothic Tale. Perfect for those who love to start “spooky season” on July 5th (with no other major (decorative, at least) holidays in the US before Halloween), yet also has a strong small town mystery and even a touch of romance, this is one book that checks a lot of boxes – yet manages to do them all quite well.

Even as a native of the South, specifically the borderlands between southern Appalachia and exurban Atlanta, I had never heard of the concept of a “grave bird”, yet Elemndorf both (quickly) explains it well… and then uses it particularly well throughout the novel whose title notes that it is all about these creatures. 😉

But seriously, the titular grave birds give this tale a magical realism/ fantasy tone that is exactly what one would expect in a Southern Gothic tale, but really the core of this book is one woman’s dreams and the depths she will go through to achieve them – even if it means unravelling a decades old town mystery so well hidden that virtually no one even actually knows there is a mystery to solve!

Truly a strong and stirring sophomore effort (for adult audiences, at least), this really is a strong tale told particularly well, and one that is both familiar enough to be understood and even relatable, yet innovative enough so that the reader will still be caught quite breathless at times.

Very much recommended.

After the jump, an excerpt from the book followed by the “publisher details” – book info, description, author bio, social links, and buy links.
Continue reading “#BlogTour: Grave Birds by Dana Elmendorf”

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#BlogTour: Reports Of His Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated by James Goodhand

For this blog tour, we’re looking at a hilarious and heartwarming absurdist British drama. For this blog tour, we’re looking at Reports Of His Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated by James Goodhand.

First, the review I posted to the book sites (BookBub.com / BookHype.com / Goodreads.com / PageBound.co / TheStoryGraph.com) and YouTube:

Hilarious (If In An Absurdist/ British Manner) And Heartwarming. I’m going to do this review in two parts, because there is a very key similarity between this book and a (possibly now somewhat obscure) movie that was at one time decently well known – but to reveal which movie is a *massive* spoiler.

So here’s the spoiler free part:

This book is going to make you laugh. It is going to make you cry. It is going to make you reach out to speak with and hold those closest to you, and it is going to make you think about your own life. And it is going to do all of that via allowing you to see through the eyes of a loner recluse that nobody gives a damn about who happens to be mistaken for a dead neighbor. Goodhand does another amazing job of telling a story in such a low key way, yet managing to hit exactly the notes he seems to have been going for. Truly an awesome story that will be a great counter weight to both the bubble gum pop or hyper macho action books you’re reading this summer as well as the extreme dark horror tales some (weirdos – joking, to be clear) look to this time of year or even the nonfiction books that a lot of ppl seek to read in the summer. And yes, guys, put down the nonfiction and read this book. It is absolutely for you, and you’re going to be able to have quite a bit of “teh feelz” in a safe space with this book. Ladies, don’t let the last sentence fool you, you’re going to enjoy this book at least as much as the guys, as there is quite a bit here for you too – just not quite as prominent, more in the sub story with some stuff that is going on throughout the book.

And now… the spoilers. DO NOT READ BELOW HERE IF YOU DO NOT WANT SPOILERS. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

Giving.
People.
Who.
Don’t.
Want.
To.
Be.
Spoiled.
Time.
To.
Leave.

Ok, at this point I’ve given everyone’s eyes a chance to leave before you read what I say next, so HERE COME THE SPOILERS.

Mr. Holland’s Opus has to be one of my favorite movies of all time. Its final scene in particular, where Mr. Holland comes to school ostensibly to pick up his last remaining boxes from his classroom after a lifetime of teaching at this school, only to hear some noise coming from somewhere… then following it to find an auditorium full of his former students and colleagues, all there to celebrate him… simply phenomenal.

If you love that movie, and particularly that scene, as much as I do… well, you’re already in the spoiler section of this review. Suffice it to say, without giving *everything* away, that there is a very similar scene here, and it is just as phenomenal as that one. *Maybe* even a touch better. I don’t *know* that Goodhand was aware of this scene, but it at least seems possible.

Now, my job as a reviewer is to both describe my experience with a book and, ultimately, to try to help sell it, even on books I absolutely detest. So particularly when a book was as excellent as this one, I need to talk about the things that I think could help it sell, and thus I *needed* to mention this movie. Plus, I couldn’t help but immediately think of that movie as the scene here was playing out, so I’m also being true to my own experience with the book in mentioning it. But I do know it is a massive spoiler, so it has been embedded in these spoiler tags.

And.
Now.
We.
Come.
Back.
Out.
Of.
The.
Spoilers.

Ultimately, this was truly an excellent book that I think most anyone will truly have a great time with, and in the lower half of the 300 page range, it isn’t a tome that will take weeks to read either, so it should be accessible to most readers.

Very much recommended.

After the jump, an excerpt from the book followed by the “publisher details” – book info, description, author bio, social links, and buy links.
Continue reading “#BlogTour: Reports Of His Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated by James Goodhand”

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#BookReview: Don’t Open Your Eyes by Liv Constantine

I Thought I Was The Only One. It is no secret that my book reviews are in part confessionals, that is my entire schtick as a reviewer and literally the basis of my brand name. So here’s one I don’t talk about often, but which those who have known me since I was a kid are aware of – it actually caused a bit of drama a couple of times back then: The dream sequences that happen in this book? The ones that our lead character feels are so vivid and real, that they really could be glimpses into the future?

I’ve lived with those same types of dreams off and on for over forty years now. And no, it isn’t deja vu. It is pretty well exactly as Constantine describes here – so real and visceral that you *know* you’ve lived those very events before.

Except unlike our lead character – or in some ways perhaps exactly like her – I learned early on, from a couple of blunders that caused the drama I referenced above, to not (obviously) act on the dreams, but instead to prepare myself for the outcomes they warned me of so that I could at least be prepared if or when they happened.

So for me in particular, that part of this book was *phenomenal*. It was easily relatable to one of those aspects of my life that I virtually *never* talk about anymore, because as our lead character in the book learns, people – even those closest to you – rapidly begin to think you’re crazy when you so openly talk about it. (Which is one reason I’m not going into any real details about my own experiences, and indeed I can actively state that these types of dreams don’t happen nearly as often anymore as they did when I was younger. My overall life is also *dramatically* different than it was, and I suspect this plays a role.)

But that aspect is only roughly half this tale, the setup. And while a phenomenal setup, it *is* a rather slow one. It takes time for those less accustomed to these types of dreams to wrap your head around what is going on with this character, and Constantine gives you that kind of time. She needs to, because the later stages, where the action picks up and indeed becomes rather breathtaking, *need* you to understand that part of this character and believe it as much as she does.

Thus, when the action picks up, the dreams become less a part of the active story and more a part of what is informing the action sequences as they play out. At this point, it becomes a far more typical thriller, one of the exact type Constantine is known for and excels at, and it shows brilliantly here.

Overall truly a great thriller that shows a side of life that most likely aren’t as familiar with, and does so in a way that rings true to at least my own experiences with similar experiences in real life.

Very much recommended.

This review of Don’t Open Your Eyes by Liv Constantine was originally written on June 30, 2025. (With apologies for the tardiness on this Advance Review Copy. Some major life events happened just before the release of this book that unfortunately delayed me reading it.)

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#BookReview: Friends Are Forever by Kellie Coates Gilbert

Strong “Finale”. I use “finale” in quotes in the title of this review because it seems we are getting a Christmas “epilogue” for this series later this year, at least per book site listings as I write this review nearly a week before this book publishes.

This noted, the story here absolutely reads like a genuine and strong finale of a series that has put its main characters through quite a lot… and has still more for them to go through. The laughs… and dusty rooms… are both timed and executed well, even as many of them seemingly come out of the blue – particularly the dusty rooms. Yet every aspect here remains perfectly true to who each of the main characters are, even as the situations they find themselves in through the course of this series finale are very unexpected.

Even as someone who first came to this series at Book 4, and thus missed the developments of the first three books, this really was very well done – one of the better finale/ wrap-ups/ send-offs I’ve seen done in a series finale in any medium, and certainly *far* superior to the various infamous finales over the years. No one is waking up and claiming it was all a dream here, y’all. 😉

Read the rest of the series before reading this book. But then make sure you have some tissues ready, because when those dusty rooms hit in this book – and yes, I said “rooms”, as in plural – they *really* hit, and you’re going to need them.

Fortunately each book in the series (at least those I’ve read) is at or under 200 pages, which makes them all fairly quick reads, even for busy parents (or others busy with whatever life you may lead).

By the time you get to the end of this one, you’ll be satisfied with where Gilbert leaves these characters… but you’re also going to welcome that epilogue currently scheduled to release in late October 2025. 😉

Very much recommended.

This review of Friends Are Forever by Kellie Coates Gilbert was originally written on June 23, 2025.

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#BlogTour: Seven Year Itch by Amy Daws

For this blog tour, we’re looking at an *almost* erotica level romcom whose plot still manages to pack a punch. For this blog tour, we’re looking at Seven Year Itch by Amy Daws.

First, the review I posted to the book sites (BookBub.com / BookHype.com / Goodreads.com / PageBound.co / TheStoryGraph.com) and YouTube:

Sexual Exploration Romcom. The title of this review says it all. This is *easily* one of the actually closest to erotica romcoms I’ve ever encountered, with pretty well the entire plot focused around sexual exploration and a somewhat thin, yet still fun and compelling, plot wrapped around that to tie the sex scenes together.

I would say the comedic elements here are fewer and further between than they were in Nine Month Contract, but they’re still present – and the animals (primarily a cat in this tale, which first appeared in Nine Month Contract) don’t quite steal the scenes as much in this tale, despite being nearly equally present.

Instead, this book revolves more around healing from past traumas of both halves of our main couple, including one particular event seven years ago that may not have gone down exactly as each understood it to have.

And yes, lots and lots of ghost pepper level “spice”, though without some of the elements of Nine Month Contract that may have turned some off from that tale. And while this part of the tale may make some uncomfortable, it is actually handled quite well within the story being told.

Overall still a compelling romance with comedic moments, this one is likely less problematic for some than its predecessor, while still being nearly as problematic as its predecessor – or even more problematic – for others. Still, for what it actually is, it really is quite good and any issues are with the reader, not with Daws’ storytelling here.

Very much recommended.

After the jump, an excerpt from the book followed by the “publisher details” – book info, description, author bio, social links, and buy links.
Continue reading “#BlogTour: Seven Year Itch by Amy Daws”