Tag: smalltown

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#BookReview: Honeymoon Phase by Amy Daws

Spicy Trauma In Long Form. This is the third book directly in its series (fourth if you count its “backdoor pilot” book from another series where a key character + a few side characters to this book were all introduced) and is the longest by over 100 pages, according to Amazon’s count… and that length shows here. Now, given that this is a habanero spicy book at times… maybe you want that length. Or maybe you’re more a “motion of the ocean” type that would rather things just get to the point without a lot of extras. Either way, you’ve been warned about the extra girth here and you can now make your own decision based on your own preferences.

And yes, if sexual puns and innuendoes aren’t your thing… you’re really not going to like this book. As it is as deep (oh god) (crap) in the series as it is, you probably should have picked up on that by now, but maybe you picked this up thinking it could be read standalone. While it technically *can* be – its story isn’t directly intertwined with any other – the characters from the other books all play roles to some degree or another here, including one scene in particular here detailing in even more explicit detail a common event among all three tales… and other that is more background to the other books, finally fully explained here.

For those who are looking for solid romance tales with some laughs (including various animals that nearly steal the scene in most scenes they are in) and a ton of heart and you can handle cursing at at least the sailor level (programmers curse more, for what that’s worth) and the aforementioned habanero spice level, this entire series is excellent.

This particular entry, with as much trauma as is detailed on both main characters… maybe the extra girth was needed. Maybe it wasn’t. I’m honestly torn, as I *want* to say it wasn’t needed… but there are also no clearly extraneous scenes here. Every scene was done well and every scene works together in its sequence to tell a richly developed story of two traumatized people slowly coming together over a period of time, and it really works on so many levels that even though I *want* to say the extra length wasn’t needed, I also can’t really defend that position by citing anything that could have been cut and this book work as well as it does here.

Thus, the best I can say is prepare yourself for the extra length… and have fun with it. The conclusion reveals that we’ve got one more book left in this series, and it is the one person we haven’t really heard from yet… who becomes very obvious through the course of this tale that they’ve got their own story to (finally) tell. I for one can’t wait to see what happens there.

Very much recommended.

This review of Honeymoon Phase by Amy Daws was originally written on November 23, 2025.

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#BookReview: Tell Me Why by Kay Bratt

Another Solid Entrant Where Bratt’s Heart Is Tattooed On Her Upper Arm With Her Sleeves Down. For a series that was *supposed* to end at Book 7 or so to now have doubled that speaks to just how popular it has become among fans of the author. That the new books continue to sell and continue to bring in new fans speaks to how well the author is crafting both each individual entry and the overall arc of the series. I know in my own reviews I’ve noted before the series was supposed to end at this book or that book or whatever, but at this point it seems that Bratt will be containing this series through the rest of her writing days.

With this particular entry and its particular crime, Bratt’s heart shines through in more muted and subtle ways than in both previous entrants in this series and in Bratt’s prior works such as her True To Me series or (where I first “met” Bratt) in Dancing With The Sun… and yet equally powerful as those other books, when you know her story. (That she speaks of from time to time publicly, to be clear.) Bratt’s loves are never far from her mind, and always shine through in her writing when you know where you’re looking… and yet when you *don’t* know these details, she still provides an all-t00-real look into far too many of our own families and, in her fictional world, gives us hope that all can work out as well as Bratt makes it work out here. Which isn’t to say there won’t be tragedy, just that the family *will* work through whatever tragedies may come – and celebrate whatever successes may come too.

The heart of the Hart’s Ridge community – and of the Gray family in particular – is what makes this series so strong, so what is coming next for those hearts following the events here…

I for one am looking forward to finding out. 😉

Very much recommended.

This review of Tell Me Why by Kay Bratt was originally written on November 21, 2025.

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#BlogTour: The Perfect Hosts by Heather Gudenkauf

For this blog tour, we’re looking at a solid tale in its genre that has a bit of a chaotic and potentially controversial opening. For this blog tour, we’re looking at The Perfect Hosts by Heather Gudenkauf.

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

Don’t Let Your Opinions Of Over The Top Gender Reveals, Guns, or Multi-Perspective Stories Fool You – This Is A Solid Book. Seriously, this is one of those books where the *opening scene* has a lot of ick for a lot of people – me included, to an extent. Indeed, I delayed reading this book for a week in part because of the very inciting incident literally listed in the first sentence of the description as of publication day earlier this week as I write this review. (Yes, I’ve had it as an Advance Review Copy for months and yes, I’m officially running behind. Apologies.)

You see, while I have exactly *zero* problems with guns and enjoy a good Tannerite explosion from time to time (on video, never experienced one in person), the over the top gender reveal and thus making a pregnancy a central point of this story… that was the ick for me.

And I was wrong.

Yes, the opening scene is complex and more than a bit confusing and perhaps even accurately labeled as hard to follow.

But the story opens up from there and becomes much easier to understand, even as it revolves around small town and family secrets and decades long mysteries all coming to a head.

Gudenkauf creates here a truly layered story with many things going on at the same time, in the mold of some of the best soap operas – and yet with a fair degree more danger involved.

Overall truly a fun book once one gets beyond the chaotic opening scene, one that plays very well within genre norms without really pushing the boundaries too hard. In other words, a perfectly comfortable read for genre fans that works well enough for those looking to see whether they enjoy this genre.

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: The Perfect Hosts by Heather Gudenkauf”

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#BookReview: Poison Wood by Jennifer Moorhead

Solid Sophomore Southern Suspense. This is a tale that builds on its predecessor, Broken Bayou, in an unexpected direction for readers of Broken Bayou – one of the secondary, yet essential, characters gets her own tale here. Which would be expected in the romance genre, but in mystery/ suspense is far less common.

And yet Moorhead absolutely makes this work. There’s enough of the Bayou here that there are at least a few spoilers from that book, but not so much that you absolutely *have* to have read it first, and thus new readers (who don’t mind a few minor ish spoilers) can come into this book without stressing about not having read Bayou first. (Though you *should* read Bayou too, as it is an excellent tale in its own right.)

Yet there is also quite the tale to be told here, and as deep as Willa’s tale was in the Bayou… this tale may even run a touch deeper. It certainly expands its world a touch, if only in that certain players have larger connections than just Ms. Meade’s home town. And yet as someone who grew up in and around similar connections – which I can’t really detail at all without revealing who some of the players in this tale are – this struck me as perhaps a touch *too* real in some aspects. Clearly, Moorhead has some similar life experiences of her own to get it *this* spot on.

Truly an excellent small town Southern mystery tale that manages to raise a lot of real world emotions without ever getting preachy about any actual real world issue, which is perhaps one of Moorhead’s great strengths as a storyteller, at least as shown in this series.

Very much recommended.

This review of Poison Wood by Jennifer Moorhead was originally written on November 2, 2025.

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#BookReview: Love By Design by Maddie Evans

Atypical Romance Offers Solid Trilogy Conclusion. This is a very atypical romance that some could potentially see as problematic… and others could possibly very easily feel all too seen in. And that all centers on our FMC here.

In the characterization of her rigidity of habit and how completely clueless she is socially, Evans here presents one version of a condition not named in the description, so it would be a spoiler to reveal here. To this writer, living in the real world with the same condition, the characterization here is perhaps a touch stereotypical… and yet while my own life and romances therein have been *wildly* different than portrayed here… I’m also aware enough of others living with this to know that there are indeed very likely some, perhaps many, who will feel quite seen in this characterization and indeed perhaps find hope that they too can find a love as portrayed herein.

Other irritations – and truly, these are *simply* irritations that your mileage will absolutely vary on – are that the author for some reason or another seems to have written “Disney” and then hit Replace All on the manuscript with a fictional name – that is how blatant the descriptions of the company are to real life, yet with the fictional name for the company. There are a few different reasons I can think of even off the top of my head that an author may choose to do this, but it was an irritant every time I encountered it and it did take away from the story a touch… which is unfortunate, given how critical it is at one point.

The other irritant is far more minor in its presentation… and yet it is also one I know many readers will want to be aware of, as it can be a deal breaker for some: without *actually* diving into spoiler territory, let’s just say there is a certain surprise in the epilogue that at least was hinted at briefly in the earlier text that it could potentially be a possibility in this exact situation, so at least it wasn’t a situation of the book before that moment either never mentioning this at all or even outright saying this wasn’t wanted at all.

To be clear though, this really was a solid romance of a very atypical form, between someone who thought he was going to be a priest and thus never have a romantic relationship and someone for whom relationships had always been rather difficult. Indeed, it is these exact two characterizations coming together that actually make this story as strong as it is, as it offers hope to so very many who perhaps are in similar boats of being on the verge of hopelessness for their own potential romances.

Another thing that was done quite well here is the integration of many elements of the Catholic faith, perhaps obvious with a potential priest as the MMC and with the author being so openly Catholic herself. Still, this is one element where at least some readers will want to be aware of up front and can make your own decision to thus read this book or not based on your own thoughts on the Catholic Church. Once again, I’m simply asking you, now that you’ve read this far into my own review, to simply leave this book be if you’re going to give it one star just because it features Catholicism and shows it so favorably or, more actually, normally.

The non-romance drama with the Brighthead Crafters is done very well once again, and this is where the trilogy conclusion comes to bear with both humor and heart, as is to typical of Evans.

Ultimately this really is a quite strong, if also very atypical, romance and a solid conclusion to this trilogy. So pick all three books up, read them, and leave a review for each wherever you find this review. Let us all know what you think – even if you think I’m a complete moron in my thoughts about these books, feel free to tag me anywhere and let me know! I’m just excited that you’re actually reading them, no matter what you think of them. 🙂

Very much recommended.

This review of Love By Design by Maddie Evans was originally written on October 10, 2025.

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#BookReview: A Merry Little Lie by Sarah Morgan

Another Solid Sarah Morgan Christmas Tale. The sun rises in the East. The grass is green. Some politician in your country is being an idiot. Some celebrity said something stupid. Baby animals doing cute things in short videos. The clock showing the same numbers twice every day. The tide comes in and goes away. Ohio State Football being severely overrated. Some things you can just count on, day after day, year after year. They just seem like they’re *always* going to be there, longer than the pyramids of Egypt.

Sarah Morgan writing a 300 ish page Christmas novel that feels like a warm blanket at a cozy fireside with the beverage of your choice on the table beside you and your cat (or dog, if you prefer) curled up at your feet is one of those things, and here, she doesn’t disappoint at all.

As usual, there is at least a touch of drama. A touch of romance. But at its heart is a family coming together for Christmas, and as usual yes, there is at least an element of a road trip involved for some of them.

Indeed, about the only thing to turn anyone off from this book or any of Morgan’s other Christmas romances is that she isn’t exactly a warm glass of milk level spice author. More of a jalapeno or so, *maybe* up to a habanero at certain key moments, but never more than once or twice or so per book. And even then, absent those scenes… yeah, about as spicy as a good eggnog. One where it is blended so well that you get all the flavors of the bourbon and rum and cognac without any burn whatsoever.

Seriously, if you’re looking for a Christmas romance author that you can just buy every year and not have to worry about quality or consistency and just *know* you’re going to get an enjoyable tale long enough to really sink into and spend a few hours with… Sarah Morgan absolutely belongs at the top of that list, and this book, her 2025 entrant here, is no different.

Very much recommended.

This review of A Merry Little Lie by Sarah Morgan was originally written on October 9, 2025.

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#BookReview: Good Days Bad Days by Emily Bleeker

All Too Real. I’ve been reading Bleeker’s books since her debut, WRECKAGE, many years ago now. I even finally got a chance to meet her IRL at Walt Disney World last year when we both randomly happened to be there. (For what its worth, I’m there frequently, living just 2.5 hrs away. In fact, the reason I’m writing this review less than 24 hrs before this book comes out rather than last week is because I was at Disney yet again late last week.) All of Bleeker’s books have been great, and this one is no exception. Several have hit close to home, either because of her Southern roots showing through or just because we’re similar in age and thus have seen a lot of the same events from similar generational views or for some other random reason.

This one is no different there. Something that despite knowing each other for several years now and despite how public I am about my admiration of one of my grandfathers in particular, I’m not *as* public about is that I actually lost three of the four grandparents I knew in my life – my natural maternal grandmother and grandfather and my maternal step grandfather – to dementia long before we lost their actual bodies. Yes, that includes the WWII hero grandfather that I knew as a simple Southern farmer the last 20 years of his life. The one that I could not bear to see in the nursing home losing his mind, so chose to stay away and preserve those memories of that strong southern farmer I had known before that point.

So yeah, this book, partially about a daughter’s experience with her mother who is now suffering dementia hit as all *too* real, particularly when it came to one particular interaction deeper in the text that is a spoiler to reveal.

Bleeker hits all the perfect notes here, particularly for someone in a more… challenging… relationship with her parents before the dementia strikes. All the anger, the fear, the desperation, the longing, the heartbreak… it is all there and captured so well, and yet done in an overall women’s fiction tale that never gets *too* dark or heavy, instead turning to different issues in other relationships both new and old to more fully flesh out the overall story.

The addition of the historical fiction timeline also works quite well here, as we get to see the grandmother and grandfather in their prime, including several of their own life changing experiences before kids came into the picture.

As someone who has long sought the memories of his grandparents lost long ago to first dementia and then death, the historical timeline – and its intersection with the present day timeline, which was executed to near breathtaking (and very dusty room) perfection – was truly remarkable.

This is one that I could very easily see recommending to my mom and “second mom” – one of my mom’s oldest sisters – as they could most likely identify with this particular tale even more strongly than I did, having done so much of the caregiving for their parents in those years, including frequent nursing home visits. As this is an unfortunately far too common occurrence in the US these days… Bleeker could well have the biggest hit of her career to date on her hands, if that particular community starts spreading this book.

With apologies for making this review have so much of *me* in it. But, two things here: 1) Every review should *always* be about the reader’s experience with the book, and thus I needed to explain my history to explain my experience with this text and 2) my own history here really is far too common these days, at least at the very high “grandson of someone who developed dementia” level, and thus I really do think that explaining that these types of readers in particular will find much here actually does help further a review’s primary purpose: to help authors sell books. So even though so much of *me* is interwoven here, I think it actually both works and, for me, is necessary here. But maybe I’m blinded by narcissism or some such here and am an absolute idiot. You should read this book for yourself and absolutely feel free to call me out when you write your own review if you think that is the case. Let us know *your* experience with this book, even if it differs dramatically from my own. Between all of us, we can begin to get a more clear picture of exactly what this book is and is not, and that is always a beautiful thing to behold.

Very much recommended.

This review of Good Days Bad Days by Emily Bleeker was originally written on October 6, 2025.

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#BookReview: Broken Bayou by Jennifer Moorhead

Excellent Debut. This is one of those books I randomly picked up as an Amazon First Read… and then only read it over a year after its initial publication when I was getting ready to read its sequel as an Advance Review Copy.

Y’all… I missed out. This book is truly quite excellent, with a solid plot revolving around a broken woman from a small town having to go back to said town to hide from new problems… and ultimately have a reckoning with past ones too.

As someone from a “small” (yet thriving and growing) Southern town who has indeed seen many more rural towns actively dying off largely similarly to how the town in this book is portrayed, this absolutely strikes as a fictional book that is uncomfortably all too real.

The mysteries of both the past and the present work remarkably well as our lead character tries to reconcile her memories with what she actually sees in front of her today, and along the way we get some very dusty rooms in more ways than one.

Oh, and the murders themselves? I’ve seen more chilling in books… but this is certainly one I’d never seen used in any other book, and is pretty damn chilling itself.

Very much recommended.

This review of Broken Bayou by Jennifer Moorhead was originally written on September 30, 2025.

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#BookReview: One Tiny Cry by Christina Delay

Rare / Possibly Unique Twist Ending Elevates Great Tale To Exceptional. The very subtitle Joffe Books chose to put on this book of “a brand new totally addictive psychological thriller with a shocking final twist” gives away that there is one here, so I feel zero remorse for mentioning that in the title of this review. If you as the reader of my review feel that it is a spoiler even as generic as it is worded… well, that is on you. 🙂

As to the actual tale here, it really is exactly what Joffe’s marketing people claim: very addictive. This is a story with a seemingly normal ish character with a particular job and a fun quirk gets an ominous threat to return to her home town… where things go from bad to worse. There are reasons she left… and she didn’t even have any clue what was actually going on here.

Blending elements of the classic The Lottery tale (at least in overall feel and foreshadowing) with the far more recent Gothictown by Emily Carpenter (featuring a fictional yet all too real version of my own real-world home County outside of Atlanta), this is absolutely a tale psychological thriller fans are going to eat up.

And then that ending. Wow. And yes, I’m returning to it and you’re still not going to have any actual idea what is happening with what I’m about to say about it. I’ve seen other authors achieve a similar bone-chilling, almost horrific twist, but I’m not going to name the author or book or situation… because that would begin to give you an idea here. Similarly, there is one book in particular that gets tossed around in the zeitgeist quite a bit these days that *actually* bears remarkable resemblance here… but even though that limits the books in question to only a handful or so, I’m not going to give any hints other than what I’ve already said.

Delay did an great job with this tale overall. It was dark and creepy, yet also had its more lighthearted moments, particularly where the quirk I mentioned above shines through. It had several tender moments which really help explain the ultimate motivations of our main character, and both of these play into making the final twist all that it is.

Finally, as this *is* a sub 250 page book with a *lot* going on… this is absolutely one of those “quick read” books perfect for when you want to read and want to be absorbed into a tale… but also don’t have a lot of time for it, for whatever reason. Or maybe you’re the opposite and looking for something to kill a few hours while sitting on a beach or poolside somewhere or (more accurately for the fall/ coming winter season at least for some of us in the Northern Hemisphere as this book is released in early October, maybe by a fireside) chilling out. Either way, this book is going to be one you’re going to want to read.

When you do, I very much encourage you to write your own review. It doesn’t have to be long. Just 26 words will be accepted anywhere you’re reading this review. This paragraph alone clocks in at 49 words. Just tell us what you thought, in whatever words you have.

Very much recommended.

This review of One Tiny Cry by Christina Delay was originally written on September 30, 2025.

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#BookReview: Maybe This Once by Sophie Sullivan

Solid Slow Burn Romance. This is one of those romances where both people come into it with some pretty hefty emotional baggage – that each is very cognizant of their own and knows they need to work on, thus providing most of the actual drama here. Those looking for external drama/ suspense will only find the barest touch, deep in the text, and thus this may not be the book for you if that is something you *must* have.

For those looking for a more laid back “I’ve gone through hell and need to heal myself, but this person is extremely interesting” type romance, this is much closer to that kind of feel, and I think you’ll like it quite a bit. It *is* the third book in a series and possibly the finale of a trilogy, but it also works decently well as a standalone, so long as you don’t mind previous characters showing up and thus knowing that prior couples from other romance novels actually (shockingly! -note the dripping sarcasm there) wound up together.

The presence of a minor yet recurring (and somewhat essential, at least in the endgame) non-binary character is one of those things that some will actively buy the book specifically because it has this kind of character, and others will actively avoid this book for exactly the same reasons. You do you, no judgement at all here – unless you one star the book because of this character. That, I absolutely condemn you to some minor irritation for a day over. After all, I’ve now warned you about this, and you chose to read the book anyway.

Regardless of what you thought though, please do leave a review wherever you see this one after reading the book yourself. I’d love to hear what you think.

Oh, and a note about the “spice level”: Apparently Sullivan is known for closed-door romances, and this is exactly that. Things get a touch more interesting than basic kissing, so I think I’d rate this somewhere around a poblano pepper or so. It may cause some heart palpitations for some and yet be quite bland indeed for others, but for most it will work well enough to provide a solid flavor without being overwhelming.

Very much recommended.

This review of Maybe This Once by Sophie Sullivan was originally written on September 30, 2025.