Tag: smalltown

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#BlogTour: All The Ways You Save Me by Melissa Wiesner

For this blog tour, we’re looking at a strong, emotional romance that packs quite a punch. For this blog tour, we’re looking at All The Ways You Save Me by Melissa Wiesner.

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

Strong Tale Packs A Punch – And Leaves Enough Left For An Exciting Followup. This is one of those books that packs *such* an emotional weight that I think the best comparison I can make goes back nearly a decade now – to Laurie Breton’s Coming Home, which I read circa 2017 or so and was the first book I ever used the term “tour de force” to describe.

This one doesn’t hit *quite* as hard as that one, but it’ll still land a few haymakers. Maybe Mike Tyson vs George Foreman when both were in their primes. In other words, “mere mortal”, prepare for an emotional beatdown with this book… in the best possible ways.

Seriously, this has “summer romance that can go so much further” written *all* over it, and thus its release window – just before Labor Day in the US, after at least some kids (including my nieces and nephew) have started back to school already but right there as college Fall Semester is starting up and summer is coming to a close – is damn near perfect for exactly this story. Even now literally 20 yrs post college and having been married for the vast majority of that time (18 yrs this Fall vs graduating 20 yrs ago this past May), I don’t know, for some reason this season of the year just evokes those kinds of emotions for me, and always has.

There isn’t really any comedy here, so the levity is more in the fact that we’re not in the middle of an emotional scene and are thus riding the swell to the next one (ha! a surfing metaphor, in a book that *does* include some surfing!). And yet the book works perfectly well *because* of this, rather than in spite of the lack of comedy. Not all tales need to be romcoms, and this one in particular is well served by keeping the comedy out. It allows the emotions to have the heft and also the breathing room they need to really work well.

Some may argue that in at least one somewhere between jalapeno and habanero scene that “they’re only 17!!!!”. A valid point, in that exact scene. But it also reflects *reality* going back essentially as long as humanity itself, and that scene helps give the overall tale the weight it needs for what happens later in the timeline. (I don’t remember where this exact scene is in the actual storytelling.) If you’re going to 1 or 2 star this book over that scene, it really says more about you than Wiesner, her storytelling abilities, or this tale in particular, and now that I’ve told you the scene is there, it really is on you, the reader of my review, to just avoid this book if that truly is a dealbreaker for you. I’ll tell you right now you’re depriving yourself of one of the more emotional romance tales I’ve read in my life – maybe even beating out Nicholas Sparks on the emotional side – but that is completely on you, and you do what you need to do. Just don’t be unfair to this book when I specifically made you aware of the existence of this issue here. 😀

Overall, again, truly one of the more emotional and thus stronger overall romances I’ve read in quite some time, and even though it leaves a few threads unanswered, it does so in ways that make it clear that they will be explored in Book 2… which I am very excited to get in my hands ASAP. Per Wiesner herself on social media gearing up for the release of this book, that one is titled All The Ways You Break Me and releases in February 2026 – roughly six months from now. I tell you now that unless Bookouture (the publisher) or Wiesner prevent me from doing so, I will be reviewing that book and on its blog tour as well. I *wish* it were already in my hands. And you’re very likely going to say that last sentence yourself if you read this book near release date, as hopefully you see this review in time to do. 🙂

Very much recommended.

After the jump, the “publisher details” – book info, description, author bio, social links, and buy links.
Continue reading “#BlogTour: All The Ways You Save Me by Melissa Wiesner”

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#BookReview: Hooked On The Heart by Maddie Evans

Solid Maddie Evans Clean Romance. I’ve been reading Evans’ books for a few years now, and this first entrant in a new series is a perfect exemplar of her style… with references (and a few cameos) to what I think was the first series I read from her (the Brighthead Running Club). And yes, if you like what you see here, that series offers several great books to read while you wait for this trilogy to complete out over the next couple of months. 🙂

What you get here is a small town romance where everyone knows everyone… except when they don’t, because suddenly there is a new guy in town. Foodies will absolutely love all of the restaurant details in this book, and knitters/ crocheters will love all of the yarn talk herein (by an author who is an avid knitter and crocheter herself. Seriously, wait until you see the author’s note at the end here. :D)

Those looking for anything more spicy than a warm glass of milk will be disappointed here, but “spice” and “Maddie Evans” have never really gone together. There are other authors that offer that, but Evans always manages to create a compelling romance that does not shy away from the fact that her characters would *like* to go there… without ever actually going there. So in this book, for example, there is some heavy kissing… and that is as far as anything actually goes. Seriously, my 10yo niece has seen more in the TV shows she watches these days.

There *is* one common romance element employed here that turns some off, but revealing it feels a touch spoilery so I’ll simply note that it is so common that it is used across every trope I’m aware of, which is why I refer to it as an ‘element’ rather than a ‘trope’. So those that are hyper sensitive to this particular one can probably guess what I’m referring to here, but this should note *should* be vague enough that it doesn’t actually spoil anything. 🙂

With the epilogue both closing out this story and blatantly setting the next one in motion, this is absolutely going to be one series where you’ll be glad that the next book is just a few weeks away. (Indeed, I was sent ARCs of all three books at once, so I can personally verify that all three are at least ready enough to release to ARC readers, which is a significant step to making them fully ready. :D)

Again, truly a solid romance full of the joy of creating and arts that will make you fall in love with both these characters and this world, thus serving as an almost “Iron Man” level tale. (Ok, I’m a dude. I had to get *something* in here to save at least a modicum of my man card! :D)

Very much recommended.

This review of Hooked On Love by Maddie Evans was originally written on August 17, 2025.

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#BookReview: Fair Warning by John Sneeden

Fun, Light-Ish, Fast – A Solid Cozy Mystery. For me, the ideal cozy mystery is mostly fun, mostly light-ish, a fast read, and maybe a touch quirky. Solid friend dynamics are always a great thing too. Here, in Sneeden’s first cozy… that is pretty well exactly what we get. It is a murder mystery, so it isn’t *completely* light – someone was murdered, after all – but the overall story isn’t weighed down by the dark and depressing, instead giving over to more banter and quips between friends as they try to solve the mystery at hand together. Oh, and one of them just found that her cat can talk. Which as I’ve told my own cat is a billion dollar idea if he would just learn to speak English in addition to Cat, so hey, maybe Sneeden is about to make his character a sudden billionaire. 😉

At a touch under 200 pages, this is also a very fast read, perfect for those times when you don’t have much time to read but need a fun diversion. Maybe the kids are in the last days of summer break as this book releases (oh, they *are*, well… sounds like you need this book 😉 ). Maybe it is later in the year and you’re frazzled getting ready for the holidays and all the cooking and travelling and just need a few minutes. Maybe it is Every. Sunday. Morning. trying to get ready for church and the kids are a *nightmare* every freaking week and you just need a few minutes to yourself to lighten you mood so you can handle them more effectively. Maybe you’ve just had a break from a community you thought you could call your own and need a chance to decompress and heal a bit. Wherever life finds you, whenever you need a quick break for whatever reason… this book is perfect *right there*. (Also, for readers who track their reading and are behind in their goals… quick, easy read. :D)

Ultimately, I can’t stress enough just how much of a fun, easy read this is – and how perfect that is in at least certain situations. Absolutely a book to have on hand for when you may need something exactly like that.

Very much recommended.

This review of Fair Warning by John Sneeden was originally written on July 31, 2025.

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#BookReview: Now And Then by Kay Bratt

A Living Example Of “If It Sells”. This is yet another solid entry into this now long-ish series, but again one that you really need to read at minimum the book immediately prior to it, as some of the situations we find ourselves in within these pages were set up in that prior book. (And if I remember correctly, I said the same thing about *that* book…) Best advice… if you are new to this series, just start at the beginning. If you like that one, know that the entire series (to date, at minimum) is very much like it in overall style and tone, so if you like that one… congratulations, you’ve now got 12 more books (and counting, but we’ll get to that) to read!

Long time fans… well, it is already official on the book trackers: Book 14 is in fact coming, and is in fact set up in *this* book. (So the next review will *also* note “well, some of the things here were set up there…” 😉 )

And that gets to the title of the review, which I do want to briefly discuss here. This is a series that Bratt outright said she only intended to go for a few books or so. I don’t remember the exact number, but it was around half or less of what we now have. Then at least once and maybe twice, she also noted she was thinking of ending the series. But damn it, the books keep selling, and Bratt has a lot of very good uses for the money, including her growing family (her youngest daughter being about to give her a new grandbaby any day now as I write this review) and her long time animal rescue work.

I for one am in no way complaining, as this series in particular *just works*. The crimes are all too real, mostly because they’re all based on actual, real world crimes that Bratt has heard of and fictionalized. The family at the heart of the series is all too real, particularly for its region, and is in a near perfect sweet spot such that it is relatable for nearly everyone. The romance is that softly understated nature that works so comfortably, the cursing is rare if ever, the “spice” is about as hot as a warm glass of milk (sorry, carolina reaper lovers), and even the parts where you begin to go “did she *really* have to add *that* in” work out to be pretty evenly balanced. *Everyone* has flaws, and most everyone are just trying to live their lives as best they can. This isn’t Mayberry… but it could easily be a slightly more real, 2020s era facsimile. And hell, sometimes we need Mayberry. I’ve long said I would prefer Sheriff Andy to Judge Dredd any day. 😉

Very much recommended.

This review of Now And Then by Kay Bratt was originally written on July 24, 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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#BookReview: Nine Month Contract by Amy Daws

Apparently Controversial. Fucking Hilarious. Near-Perfect (If Unusual) Romcom. I picked up this book specifically because I agreed to work its sequel (Seven Year Itch) as a blog tour… before realizing that book was a sequel. When I found out, I knew I needed to read this book first.

Now, upfront, I’ve read a LOT of books over the years that some will find disgusting or *well* against their moral philosophies for various reasons and rated most all of them fairly highly – 4 or 5 stars in every case I’m thinking of at the moment. Those have ranged from a look at sexual ethics through the eyes of a hyper conservative American Evangelical Christian lens all the way to a MM romance series that openly involved (adult) baby/ diaper kink. I’m *also* a guy who was introduced to porn because his Pastor, who would later become a President of the Georgia Baptist Convention, once spoke against videoing not only a baby’s birth, “but also its conception”. As a young and sheltered teenage boy who was very scientifically curious… I had to find those videos. (Here’s a tip, Pastors: *Never do this in a mixed congregation.*)

Thus, coming into a book involving a degree of breeding kink was nothing particularly shocking for me. (If it is for you, you *really* don’t want to go into some of the Omegaverse type stuff. Seriously, just forget you ever even heard that word.) Yes, the entire setup is rather unusual – the book goes through great pains to explore that exact facet of the relationship, and indeed much of the drama in this romcom is specifically due to the unusual nature of how our male and female leads meet and begin to interact.

Instead, most everything I’ve seen anyone complaining about in previous reviews of this book are largely played either for comedy or for enhancing the tension and drama, and both sides of this romantic comedy work quite well in their separate lanes, and indeed come together to make one of the more stand-out and interesting romcoms I’ve read in quite some time. Again, it won’t be for everyone, for varying reasons. But for those that can allow your brains to accept this tale for just a few hours, you’re going to come away with one of the more memorable romance tales I’ve read in literally years. Here, I speak as a man who reads on average 200 books per year across nearly all (non swords and sorcery fantasy) genres.

Even the standard inclusion of who the next couple in the series will be is done well by including them when it makes sense in *this* story, but not having them dominate the screen in their scenes the way I’ve seen others do over the years.

Spice level wise… y’all, breeding kink is a major thing here. Thus, the spice level is pretty well ghost pepper/ damn near erotica level at times, but with the main focus of the book being on the actual story. But when it goes to sex scenes… not only does it not fade to black, it gets into a lot of stuff that will make a lot of people fairly squeamish, and not always in good ways. So yet again, be prepared for this, and if this isn’t really your thing… this book likely won’t be for you, and that is perfectly ok.

Truly an unconventional and thus memorable romcom, but again, it won’t be for everyone. *And that is perfectly ok.*

Very much recommended.

This review of Nine Month Contract by Amy Daws was originally written on June 20, 2025.

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#BookReview: The Summer That Changed Everything by Brenda Novak

Strong Small Town Tale. This is one of those tales that has a bit of a lot. Rich boy falls in love with trailer park trash girl over the course of one fateful teenage summer. Events happen in their small seasonal town, and small seasonal townspeople – including police – respond as small seasonable townspeople all too often do, even in real life.

But what if… what if damn near *everyone* was wrong?

What if the truth of that summer all those years ago was so much more complex? What if virtually *no one* had anywhere near a complete picture of what was happening, due to *everyone* having far too many prejudices and preconceptions?

Can wrongs done that summer all those years ago be corrected all this time later – at least to some degree or another? Can relationships destroyed then – family, community, romantically, and others – be repaired after so much time has passed and so much bitterness has been so deeply internalized?

Novak here provides a stunning tale perfect for summer reading that delves into all of the above in a tale that ultimately leaves the reader a bit breathless and a lot of emotions to deal with. It isn’t a comedy, though it has a touch of that. It isn’t a romance per se, though it does in fact meet all known qualifications there and may be marketed as such. This is far more a family/ small town drama, and one that plays out quite remarkably well.

Very much recommended.

This review of The Summer That Changed Everything by Brenda Novak was originally written on June 15, 2025.

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#BookReview: Pity Play by Whitney Dineen

Gilmore Girls Yet Not Gilmore Girls. He’s Luke and he works in a diner. She’s Lorelai and she wants to run a bed and breakfast. Stars Hollow? NOPE! Equally fictional and equally charming Elk Lake. But yes, the Gilmore Girls comparisons, at least at a very high level, are simply too blatant to be completely ignored.

This noted, Dineen *does* do her own thing and *does* manage to tell a tale completely different than anything I remember from Gilmore Girls. (Don’t hate me, but despite Lauren Graham being hot, it just wasn’t a series I could ever really get into. Sorry, ladies!)

Here, the angst is arguably done better than the romance, and indeed it often seems at times that this ostensibly romance book keeps its central couple apart far more than they’re together, with the togetherness coming in very tentative and awkward steps at first before “suddenly out of no where” kind of exploding… after a damn near fatal implosion first, of course.

But truly the most relatable part of this for me personally was in fact Luke’s story, and even his dad’s story. While I know at least *some* of my dad’s story (more than Luke does throughout a large part of the tale here), like Luke, there are absolutely things I don’t know – and will never know – about my dad’s childhood and my grandfather (who in my case died just five weeks after my birth). Like Luke, as an adult I’ve had to try to come to understand my dad through the bits and pieces of his history I’ve learned, and how that has shaped him into the man he chose to become… and thus how it shaped how he raised me and shaped me into the man I chose to become. While I never lost years of our lives due to a misunderstanding, that’s not to say there haven’t been misunderstandings along the way (including one particularly infamous one when I was a teenager that was perhaps the closest we ever got to this level of blowup). So… yeah, Luke’s story absolutely hit a touch harder here.

Overall while this seemed to be probably the most angsty book in the series, there really was quite a bit of fun and self discovery along the way as well, and it really was both a solid entrant in the series and a solid setup for a seeming near-direct sequel.

Very much recommended.

This review of Pity Play by Whitney Dineen was originally written on March 25, 2025.

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#BookReview: Losing The Moon by Kellie Coates Gilbert

Excellent – And Short-ish – Tale Of The Power Of Friendship And Community. In this latest entrant in this saga of four friends living lives in each other’s orbits, we get quite a bit packed into such a smallish page count – there’s intense action as a snowmobile race gets dicy, there’s the drama of unexpected surprises and possible relapses, there’s friends coming together in some of the most difficult circumstances as their entire community rallies around them. All told in a very real yet very relatable way, and again, all completed in a tale that serves as a solid read while the kids are running off steam at the playground or on the ball field or maybe while you’re waiting to pick them up from school or some such. Or, for the childfree/ those with grown children among us, while sitting poolside with a good drink or even standing in line at a theme park or maybe lounging away one lazy Saturday looking out across whatever scenery brings you serenity.

Truly well done, though you’re probably going to want to start earlier in the series and get to this point, rather than jumping into the series here. Which just means you have more to look forward to, in that case. 😉

Very much recommended.

This review of Losing The Moon by Kellie Coates Gilbert was originally written on March 22, 2025.

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#BookReview: Gothictown by Emily Carpenter

Did Carpenter Steal My Life? (No, She Didn’t.) Hmmm… a book set in the real-life Bartow County (if in a fictional town within it) along the real-life Etowah River and some real-life roads (and some fictional ones). Featuring a veteran of a war named Major. Where an old Confederate area mine plays a major role. With (fictional) long-time area families being a key component of the story.

And I, a reader who is a native of the real Bartow County, whose great-grandfather was a WWI POW named Major, who went to high school not far off one of the roads in question (which runs through the northern section of Bartow County in real life, fwiw), who knows exactly where the real-life Cooper’s Furnace and several area mines (including several similar to the fictional one in the book, which aren’t on many current maps) are located, who can readily identify where the scars of the real-life war criminal terrorist bastard William Tecumseh Sherman’s troops left scars on the land that are still visible *to this day*, who went to both high school and college near the sites of famous actions during the Atlanta Campaign, whose families (including all relevant branches) have been in the area for over 200 years as I type this (though to be clear, my dad and his siblings were the first to call Bartow their home county), who knows well how well-connected families *continue* to control the real-life Bartow County via its (one of few remaining *nationally*, per my understanding) Sole Commissioner government system…

Yeah… the parallels between my real life and the fictional world Carpenter created here allow me a rare (not *quite* unique, as there *are* at least a few hundred others who have similar life experience and knowledge) view into this particular tale. 🙂

But to be 100% explicitly clear, while Carpenter and I have interacted via social media off and on for a few years now, and while several of my grandparents and older were from her own area of Georgia in the Roswell area she admits in the Author’s Note she actually based much of the tale on, we’ve never actually met and she had no possible way to know *all* of that about me. Thus, it is 100% coincidental that the story bears so much resemblance to so much that I can readily identify. 🙂

With all of *that* noted… this truly was a tremendous book. The motivations of pretty well everyone are pretty clear and believable (if a bit twisted, in the case of the antagonists of the tale). The parallels to The Lottery are blatant (as that tale is referenced in-story), but actually work well here with the story as presented. As things begin to go towards the psychological/ horror, it is done in a very believable manner, with open questioning of reality. The emotions are raw and visceral, no matter whether it be the hope of a new move, the horror of… the horrible things that happen (to avoid spoilers 😉 ), the disgust of some other things that happen… it all completely works.

And yes, I could absolutely see some parallel reality where the real-life Cassville – the County Seat of what was then called Cass County during the Civil War – actually plays out very similarly to how Juliana plays out here. The tale really is that close to being true to life, at least life as I experienced it as a former trailer park trash kid growing up alongside Bartow’s elite.

Finally, as Billie’s diner is a big part of this tale, I wanted to end the review in a unique manner for me, since this is a rather unique book for me. I’m going to leave you with a few recommendations for places to eat and things to do in and around Cartersville, should you ever find yourself on I-75 in Georgia north of Atlanta. (Unlike Carpenter noting that her Bartow County was *two* hours outside of Atlanta, in real life it is closer to 45 min from downtown Atlanta without traffic, and with traffic… who knows how long. During a snow storm one year, it literally took my dad over 12 hrs to get from his work on the perimeter of Atlanta (on I-285, basically) to his home in Cartersville.)

Places To Eat:
4-Way Diner. Historic diner near downtown Cartersville, still retains its “black only” entrance from the days of Jim Crow (now for historic purposes only, to be clear).

Jefferson’s. Restaurant in downtown Cartersville, inside the same building that houses the world’s oldest outdoor Coca-Cola sign on its railroad-track facing side. Likely the closest thing Cartersville currently has to a real-life Billie’s, as described in the text.

Moore’s Gourmet Market. Small eatery near Roselawn (below) and the Bartow County Library, just outside of downtown Cartersville.

Restaurants Along Felton Rd. There are a lot of places here, none of which have any historic significance – but the road name does. The road is named for Rebecca Latimer Felton, who owned a plantation in this part of the County before and after the Civil War. She was the first female US Senator – and the last formerly slave owning one.

Things to See:
Roselawn: Sam Jones’ mansion just outside of downtown Cartersville, one of few antebellum houses still existing in town. Across the street is a historic marker noting the former home of Lottie Moon, prominent Baptist missionary to China of the same era Sam Jones was preaching in and the person the Southern Baptist Convention’s Christmas fundraising effort is named for.

Old County Courthouse/ Sam Jones Memorial Methodist Church: Side by side, these buildings represent much of Cartersville’s history. I’ve personally seen KKK rallies at the Courthouse (and went the other way), and a cousin got married at Sam Jones, which was named after a preacher who was essentially the Billy Graham of the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.

World’s Oldest Outdoor Coca-Cola Sign. Along the train tracks at downtown Cartersville.

Etowah Indian Mounds: Mounds made by a pre-Columbus native tribe. The site is now across from a cemetery where several of my family members are buried and from Cartersville’s main recreation park, Dellinger Park.

Atco Village: Early 20th century mill village, its mill has now largely been destroyed, but the elements of the town are largely still intact to varying degrees. The mill was actually one of two that locked its doors on my dad when it shut down nearly 25 yrs ago, but the old Methodist Church still stands at the entrance to the village, along with its old post office (next to the railroad tracks) and the Baptist church (where my family attended for decades) still stands at the dead end of the street that you enter the village on. Many of the houses still retain their original looks, despite improvements over the century.

Cooper’s Furnace: I mentioned this site above. Just outside of Cartersville and just below the Allatoona Dam on the Etowah River, as you leave US 41 to drive over to this site, if you look into the river you’ll see the stone pillars that once held railroad tracks destroyed by Sherman’s troops as he moved through the region.

New Echota: Technically in Gordon County just north of Bartow, this is the site of the Capital of the Cherokee Nation at the time of the Trail of Tears. There is a relatively small State Park here with several buildings that were moved to this site to show what life was like at the time.

And enough with the tourism board stuff – I’m not Juliana’s Initiative by any stretch of the imagination, just a man proud of his hometown and constantly in awe of just how much history he grew up around, largely unknowingly.

Even as a Bartow County native – maybe *especially* as a Bartow County native – this book is absolutely…

Very much recommended.

This review of Gothictown by Emily Carpenter was originally written on March 21, 2025.