Tag: secrets

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#BlogTour: The Paris Daughter by Soraya Lane

For this blog tour, we’re looking at yet another excellent entry in Soraya Lane’s Lost Daughters series that seemingly brings us that much closer to the finale. For this blog tour, we’re looking at The Paris Daughter by Soraya Lane.

First, the review I posted to the book sites (BookHype.com / TheStoryGraph.com / Goodreads.com):

(Mostly) Solid Next Entry In Series, Brings Us Closer To Finale. What seems to be clear with this series is that our final book in it will seemingly be the origin story of Hope House, the very entity that essentially started the entire series – which itself would be an intriguing dynamic, storytelling wise. This book does a phenomenal job of bringing us that much closer to that tale… possibly as soon as the next book after this one???

Otherwise, this book largely works to the same degree and in the same ways that its predecessors do – they all manage to superbly combine both elements of Soraya Lane’s romance writing prowess and her historical fiction writing prowess (as Soraya M. Lane). In this particular book, yet again both elements are particularly strong, though I might perhaps give the edge to the historical side – Evaline is truly one of the more assertive (in the best of ways) ladies Lane has ever created in a fictional period, and yet Evaline is also true to her times – she manages to have that steel hand wrapped in velvet that women of earlier times were well known (at least in some circles) for, and yet nothing is actually out of place here. The modern timeline is another of the “writer writes about her life” trope, and yet again, it works well with Lane writing it.

I say “Mostly” in the title because the back part of the tale just felt like it was missing… something? I’m not even sure what, exactly. Maybe more time with Evaline post-war, rather than the way we (the readers) get that information here? Even then, I’m not *sure* that’s what I felt was missing, I just know that the ending ultimately felt a touch abrupt and not as complete as these tales have been, for some reason. But you, the reader of my review, should absolutely read this book and maybe help me figure out what I missed here?

Ultimately truly another excellent entry combining both of Lane’s strengths.

Very much recommended.

After the jump, the “publisher details” – book info, description, author bio, social links, and buy links.
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#BookReview: House Of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen

Solid Suspense Takes Atypical Turns. This is one of those tales that almost seems destined for at least a sequel, if not a series of some level. There’s more than enough here to justify it, and yet this story itself is fully complete as is. In other words, coming back to this world would be interesting and compelling… but not necessarily *necessary*.

I love the way that certain elements are played in an all-too-real-yet-not-usually-shown-in-fiction manner, and the specific construction of how Stella’s past and present collide is particularly well done – and perhaps indicative that no sequel is expected here, as that particular sub plot could have been spread across a small series – while not feeling rushed or out of place fully happening within this story itself.

There *is* one particular element that could throw at least some readers off, and that is the (minor) romance subplot and specifically that it introduces an LGBT element not otherwise present in the story. Minor spoiler there, apologies, but I’d rather avoid 1*s (which I’ve seen already) specifically because of this. So just know it going forward, and yes, I know that others will praise this book specifically for that very point. *In the context of this particular story as told*, to me it felt refreshing that the author would choose to go that direction rather than feeling forced in just to have that “representation” in the book, but it is also a point where I could see others feeling that it was a touch forced, and they wouldn’t get much pushback from me beyond what I just stated – it didn’t feel that way *to me*.

Overall a truly well told, suspenseful, complex tale with a more-fleshed-out-than-many main character that clearly has a lot going on, and a tale whose world seems ripe for exploring more of. So here’s hoping we get a chance to, and here’s hoping it will be soonish.

Very much recommended.

This review of House Of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen was originally written on September 13, 2024.

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#BlogTour: My Sister’s Boyfriend by Nicola Marsh

For this blog tour, we’re looking at a dark, creepy yet non-supernatural sequel perfect for the fall/ Halloween mood. For this blog tour, we’re looking at My Sister’s Boyfriend by Nicola Marsh.

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

Dark. Creepy. Maybe Read My Sister’s Husband First. This is one of those dark, creepy books where *most* of the worst stuff (though not all) is “off screen”, so even though there are mentions of animal abuse, rape, sexual assault, and more, for the most part we never “see” any of this happening – and more often than not, it is merely mentioned, rather than “showing” anything at all about the abuse at hand. (Though there are points where *slightly* more is shown, to be clear – it is simply that the actual abuse is never shown.)

So for those who can handle seeing such primarily “off screen” abuse in a twisty thriller all about family relationships… this one is done quite well, but truly works *best* if its predecessor, My Sister’s Husband, is fresh in your mind. (Vs my having read 869 books between them – seriously.) The events pick up after the events of the first book, with most of the relationships between the characters already well established from that book. (But with enough recap that it is possible to follow along here, there’s just a lot to learn.) Told from just three perspectives (rather than each character’s or a single narrator’s), we get a good sense of what is going on in these complex and complicated relationships, along with a lot of backstory for our new character for this book.

Still, for those looking for dark and creepy yet not necessarily supernatural reads as we go into this fall/ Halloween season, both of these books are quite good for exactly that kind of mood.

Very much recommended.

After the jump, the “publisher details” – book info, description, author bio, social links, and buy links.
Continue reading “#BlogTour: My Sister’s Boyfriend by Nicola Marsh”

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#BlogTour: The Summer Reunion by Leah Mercer

For this blog tour, we’re looking at a book where *everyone* has secrets… and even the secrets have secrets. For this blog tour, we’re looking at The Summer Reunion by Leah Mercer.

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

Their Secrets Have Secrets. Easily a great line in The Avengers (the Marvel version, you Imperialists) is when Tony Stark is speaking of Nick Fury and says “his secrets have secrets” – which is absolutely true, both in The Avengers and this book. If you enjoy semi-slow burn (to start) almost disaster movie type suspense, where everything starts off a touch slow and normal ish before completely fucking unravelling… this is exactly the kind of book you’re going to enjoy.

The other great thing about this, to me, was how well Mercer used the setting she created to create an atypical emergency situation. Without giving anything away, let’s just say that it put an interesting spin on a couple of fairly worn concepts and made everything seem newer and much more intriguing in the process.

Ultimately one of those books you’re going to be reading deep into the night, because “one more chapter” will never be enough.

Very much recommended.

After the jump, the “publisher details” – book info, description, author bio, social links, and buy links.
Continue reading “#BlogTour: The Summer Reunion by Leah Mercer”

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#BookReview: An Echo In Time by Boo Walker

Strong Multi-Generational Tale. With this tale, Walker expands into something I’ve never seen from him (though I *am* a somewhat recent fan, only finding him within the 2020s or so) – a dual timeline, present day/ historical fiction tale. Both periods are executed well for their time and setting, though there are some mystical elements to the present day setting that will be harder for some to accept – and some elements of the more practical present day setup that may seem just as unrealistic to others.

Still, Walker manages to write a female lead as well as most female authors within the women’s fiction space while *also* having a male lead that is also Walker’s typical greatness with such characters. That he *also* manages to give both of them a compelling romance – and proving some of my points re: “romance novels” along the way! – is even more icing on the cake there.

But really, the story here is about the trauma and the seeming generational nature of it. In this respect, I didn’t really see the present day issues as “trauma” so much as a lot of bad luck/ bad circumstances. Yes, any one of the things *suck*, but I didn’t really see them as “trauma”. (Though the one situation, part of the practical yet possibly unrealistic stuff noted above, … well, I’ll shut up now to avoid any possible spoilers.) This noted, the historical period was simply *full* of trauma, that part I absolutely got and it was 100% crystal clear – particularly as they relate to some other books I’ve read and raved about over the decades.

And yet, regardless of which part of which storyline’s traumas hit you, the reader of this review, harder… Walker, as always, shows superb skill in bringing the characters *back from it* – which isn’t really a spoiler, given this is very much Walker’s style in every book I’ve read from him. Indeed, it is a particular strength of his that sets his tales apart from many in whichever genre you may place his books. Thus, no matter your own traumas in your “real” life and no matter how much you may identify with a particular trauma found in this tale… you’re also going to find a degree of catharsis within these pages that is Walker’s particular brand of real-world “magic” with his words.

Very much recommended.

This review of An Echo In Time by Boo Walker was originally written on August 27, 2024.

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#BlogTour: The Bookseller Of Paris by Suzanne Kelman

For this blog tour, we’re looking at a book where one revelation – hidden deep in the past – can change everything. For this blog tour, we’re looking at The Bookseller Of Paris by Suzanne Kelman.

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

One New Revelation Can Change Everything. This is, ultimately, a tale of exactly what the title says. As a dual timeline tale, the linkage here is rare, but rare in the sense of the now-mythical banana chocolate chip cookie from Chips Ahoy – done once years ago, and *may* (HOPEFULLY, in the case of the cookie, I’ve missed it ever since!) eventually come back.

Discussing the 2010s era timeline at all is a spoiler in that it isn’t mentioned at all in the description of the book (at least as it exists at publication in August 2024), but it was one that I could very much relate to given my own family’s history. It was also the timeline where this book could be classified as a romance, but that is all that I will say here.

The WWII story is compelling, though we’ve actually seen its pivotal moment in at least The Last Day In Paris (Book 1 of this series), if not The Paris Orphans (Book 0). The story here is more both how we got to that particular moment and what happens after – both compelling, if at least slightly different, mysteries.

Overall this was a tense book full of both the peril of WWII in so many facets as well as the long tail of its aftermath in so many different ways. Very much recommended.

After the jump, the “publisher details” – book info, description, author bio, social links, and buy links.
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#BookReview: One Big Happy Family by Jamie Day

Lots Of Moving Pieces, Yet Feels Slow Somehow. I think a growing peeve of mine- maybe not yet a pet peeve, but certainly a major annoyance – is using a “hurricane” bearing down on a location and yet using it poorly… which is what happens here. Why a hurricane when a normal storm system would have worked just as well for plot purposes??? Hell, here in *Florida* (much less Maine, where this is set and where they get far fewer hurricanes), our daily thunderstorms (particularly in the summer) are generally worse than many of the hurricanes I’ve lived through here in North Florida (including Irma, just a few weeks after I moved here).

Beyond my irritation with the misuse of the hurricane though, which is admittedly a personal thing, the story works reasonably well, if seeming a bit slow and perhaps a touch unrealistic/ idiotic with some of the moves some of the characters make. But hey, we’re all idiots at some point, right? It just seems like our supposed “heroes” in this particular tale are particularly stupid at times… which grates some people more than others. (Indeed, reading over the other reviews, it seems like many have a hangup on this similar to my hurricane one above.) And yet the stupidity ultimately works to make this novel work, and perhaps that is the reason it is here – this near 400 page book may have been reduced by at least a third and perhaps as much as a half had one or two characters made even a single better decision, perhaps a couple of better decisions. And maybe Day had a word or page count to meet.

Still, there’s nothing objectively wrong about this book, and it *is* an enjoyable read that is *certainly* better than other books and is a solid way to lose a day or a few afternoons in a fictional world… which is becoming so much more important as election season ramps up in the US again. So forget the politics for a bit and pick up this book. You may be disappointed a bit in it, but it will still be better than spending that time watching the news. 🙂

Recommended.

This review of One Big Happy Family by Jamie Day was originally written on August 1, 2024.

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#BlogTour: Only One Survives by Hannah Mary McKinnon

For this blog tour, we’re looking at a tale that has a shotgun beginning that focuses into a laser ending. For this blog tour, we’re looking at Only One Survives by Hannah Mary McKinnon.

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

Shotgun Beginning Focuses Into Laser Ending. This is one of those stories that opens up with a lot of moving parts, even as we only really get a single perspective of them, so it can be a bit difficult of a read to get into at first. Compelling, to be sure, particularly the accident during the blizzard, but through these intro sections the tale doesn’t seem to know what it wants to be yet… and thus the reader may find it difficult to follow.

This noted, as the story progresses, things become ever more clear and pointed and the book finally decides what it wants to be… and oh, boy. Absolutely several interesting twists here, both within the story and in how the story itself subverts expectations of the reader.

Ultimately this is going to be one of those stories that seems like a bit of a challenge up front, even if compelling, but stick with it long enough for the tale to figure itself out. Because once it does, you’re in for a fun time indeed.

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: Only One Survives by Hannah Mary McKinnon”

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#BookReview: Husbands & Lovers by Beatriz Williams

Story Tries Hard But *Just* Misses + Story/ Cover Mismatch. This is one of those reviews where the review and rating may not seem to align, because for the vast majority of this book, I thought it was pretty damn good. It does a LOT – even more than similar Soraya M. Lane books usually do – and *for the most part*, it does those things quite well. We’ve got a romance tale in the 2000s era New England that alternates between 2022 (current) and 2008 (the halcyon summer where the couple first fell in love). We’ve got a historical fiction tale that alternates between the 1952 Great Cairo Fire/ Black Saturday period and early WWII period. Either one of those tales could be an entire book in and of itself, and yet we’ve also got a 23 And Me type DNA mystery that links the two (and which admittedly is a spoiler mentioning, sorry). I’ve read many entire books that would use any one of those three elements to tell an entire tale, and yet we get all three tales in one book here. And *for the most part*, it all works.

Where it fails, and the cause of the first star deduction, is that the climax of the Cairo tale is rushed and its fallout effectively buried in service of the New England romance and 23 And Me mystery. This book could have been *so much more* with maybe as little as 10 extra pages flushing out the Cairo tale in 1952 rather than the 2022 manner in which we get that information, and I think this is a close enough to objective opinion to merit a star deduction here.

The other star deduction is one I don’t encounter often, but *have* done a time or two before, and is warranted here for the same reasons I’ve used it before – the stories told here and the cover as it exists at publication (June 25, 2024) do not match. At all. The 1952 tale in Cairo -the era this cover screams to me – doesn’t really have even a pool scene at all, much less one involving a diving board. Even the 2000s era tales don’t actually involve any real pool activity, again particularly with a diving board. There are some ocean/ beach scenes that play key roles, but that isn’t what this cover evokes. Even in tone, this cover leads the reader to believe that this will be some 1950s era glam tale of some form… and it isn’t, not really. Yes, the Cairo tale is played as “exotic”… but that isn’t the tone I get from this cover.

So a lot of words, maybe too many words, to say that you really do need – as one 2* reviewer also noted – to read the description of the book to really know what you’re getting into here, and judging this book by its (admittedly great looking, in and of itself) cover may get you into a bit of a letdown situation with this particular book.

Overall, I actually really, really enjoyed this book. I thought it did a lot, and for the most part did well on damn near all of it. It simply lacked execution in a final detail and needed a cover that ties to the story more than the current one does.

Very much recommended.

This review of Husbands & Lovers by Beatriz Williams was originally written on June 28, 2024.

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#BookReview: The Next Mrs Parrish by Liv Constantine

Sociopathy vs Psychopathy vs Revenge. If the first “Mrs Parrish” book was a study in psycopathy vs sociopathy with a “normal” person caught in the middle – and it was -, this one is in some ways more of the same, but with the added twist of adding a new character who is just as cunning as both the sociopath and the psychopath, but a more ‘normal’ person with the added motivation of pure revenge.

Thus, the action tends to be just as despicable here as in the first book, and for that reason many who did not like the first one may in fact not like this one either – so if that is you, seriously, just spare the author the 1* review and skip this one.

But for those who are willing to endure the despicable acts knowing that this book *is* more revenge focused and *does* have some significant (and seeming conclusive, for at least some of the players involved) payoffs… this book is actually quite delicious. Where the first one was more slow and methodical, this one almost seems like a director who has only now learned about quick scene cutting, particularly relative to just how slow the first book was. Almost like an old school, plodding, hours long chess match… and then the next match is over in a brilliant storm of lightning. Not one that will necessarily leave you breathless, but absolutely one where you begin to wonder just how much you’ve seen and how fast you’ve seen it. Particularly, again, after the utterly glacial pace of the first book.

Whereas the first book had almost no redeemable qualities about almost none of the characters, here we do get to have a bit more sympathy for at least some of the characters, and that alone will make this book better than the first one for some readers – but you absolutely have to read the first book to be able to fully understand this book.

Ultimately, this was truly well done, and some parts of the ending were truly delicious indeed given all that had happened to that point.

Very much recommended.

This review of The Next Mrs Parrish by Liv Constantine was originally written on June 26, 2024.