Tag: UnitedKingdom

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#BookReview: Big Nick Energy by Kristen Bailey

Christmas Love Angle. Let me be crystal clear as someone more trained in mathematics than most who happens to work in a field that is technically a sub-discipline of mathematics: For three (or more, really) straight people, there can never be a true love triangle. There can only be a love *angle*. A triangle, by definition, has three sides and three intersecting points. For a romantic love triangle to exist, at least one person involved must be romantically attracted to both of the other two – even if unrequited. With three straight people, no matter the combination of either gender, it will thus never happen. Thus, this book is about a love *angle*, not a love “triangle”, as all of our central characters here are straight.

Now, possible (likely) pedantry aside, this was still a fun Kristen Bailey Christmas book. A bit spicier than a Sarah Morgan Christmas book, with far more sexual innuendo (but you knew that from the title, or should have :D), with quite a bit more comedy, and really at least as much heart to it as Morgan’s annual tales.

Now Jeff, why do you bring up another author in this review? Well, because in both cases they’re both United Kingdom based, with tales primarily based on that side of the “pond” and are fairly consistent in releasing a Christmas book every year, generally within a few weeks of each other. Meaning I tend to read them pretty close and indeed read this one barely ten days after reading Morgan’s latest, so it is fresh on my mind. 🙂

Overall this book hit about as expected – meaning I had a great time and think most readers will too, but if you’re one that doesn’t like cussing or jalapeno (at least) level spice (to be clear, this is nowhere near ghost level, even habanero is debatable, which is why I went with jalapeno)… maybe stick with Morgan’s books. But hey, if you *prefer* the occasional fuck – both in word and in deed – Bailey is going to be right up your alley bringing her version of… well, Big *Nick* Energy. 😀 (Ok, it had to be done once I realized I was kinda walking myself into that one. :D)

I would say that long time fans of Bailey will enjoy this one, and also that if you’re new to Bailey, this is a fun book that is fairly typical of her overall style, even as she writes a few books every year – not just her annual Christmas book. As someone who has been reading her stuff for a few years now, I can honestly say that they’re all fun and if you enjoy this one and are new to Bailey, you’re going to have a fun time reading through her back catalog.

As always, read the book for yourself and let us know what you think by leaving your own review wherever you see this one. Even if you think I’m completely wrong in my thoughts on this book, feel free to call me out in your review if you think I need it. Overall, more reviews reach more readers and help sell more books, so please, help both me and you and help Bailey continue to be able to write more books for us. 🙂

Very much recommended.

This review of Big Nick Energy by Kristen Bailey was originally written on October 21, 2025.

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#BlogTour: The Hidden Daughter by Soraya Lane

For this blog tour, we’re looking at a strong tale that brings new elements to this series while also setting up its conclusion brilliantly. For this blog tour, we’re looking at The Hidden Daughter by Soraya Lane.

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

Strong Penultimate Book In Series Brings In New Elements. This entire series of Lane combining both her historical side and her romance side have been truly excellent, and this one is no different there. What makes this one different from the rest of the series is that this one actually takes place comfortably outside the shadow of WWII… and is perhaps one of the more powerful books in the series because of this. Indeed, while it can sometimes be hard for modern audiences nearly a century removed from wartime horrors and tribulations to fully understand all that is happening inside a WWII setting, no matter how good the storyteller is, in bringing the story out of that particular shadow and in using a tragedy that is still rare but at least more relatable than total war, Lane makes this particular tale perhaps all that much easier to fully understand the depth of the tragedy here.

Once again, both historical and contemporary elements are done well and perhaps here blended even more seamlessly than the other books, due to the precise nature of what is happening within this one. Foodies will love the restaurant talk of having our FMC be a chef, and indeed her entire story is richly layered with all too relatable drama for far too many. Even the MMC, while not given remotely equal screen time, manages to have the main point of his backstory developed enough to be quite the gut punch when it is fully revealed.

Perhaps most exciting for fans who have been with this standalone-yet-interconnected-ish series since the beginning is the stinger in the epilogue here. On a scale ranging from “makes you not want the next tale at all to Infinity War’s “I need the next tale RIGHT TBIS FUCKING SECOND!!!!!!!!!!!!!”, this one ends not far off Infinity War’s level of build. With no release date given for the next book!

Which just means you have time to either read this book (if you’ve already been following along) or the entire series (if you haven’t) before the finale comes seemingly at some point in 2026. (Pure somewhat educated guess there.) When you read them, make sure to write your own reviews wherever you see this one. I clearly think this book and the entire series are truly excellent, and I’d love to see what you think too.

Very much recommended.

After the jump, the “publisher details” – book description, author bio, social links, and buy links.
Continue reading “#BlogTour: The Hidden Daughter by Soraya Lane”

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#BookReview: The Killing Age by Clifton Crais

Flawed Premise And Weirdly Exacting Time Selection Move Interesting Premise To Garbage Narrative. This is one of those books that I *wanted* to like. I *strongly* believe, based on my own historical studies over the years, that there is a truly strong case to be made for how violence has shaped the modern world in ways that most humans alive today simply aren’t aware of. There is a case to be made for how violence and conquest shape almost literally every facet of everything we currently know, up to and including the most bleeding edge sciences all largely having their origins in military research and applications – including all of computing and very nearly everything we as humanity are doing both in astronomy and in particle physics.

Unfortunately, this book doesn’t even begin to attempt to make that case.

Instead, this is yet another anti-capitalist polemic wherein a “historian” attempts to reframe history… and yet provides a bibliography one would typically expect from a more mundane and well trod “this is what happened at this event” type history book. In other words, it is *far* from meeting the Sagan Standard of “extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence”. And yet, at roughly 22% bibliography (in addition to several more pages of front matter listing many dozens of people and events covered in the text), this text sufficiently meets my 20-30% documentation expectations for nonfiction books generally, so actually doesn’t lose a star there. Note even here though that while there is technically enough bibliography, it is also extremely cherry picked to show exactly the narrative Crais is trying to frame without ever even hinting at other possible interpretations of the events at hand.

No, the two star deductions are distinct enough (in my mind at least) to warrant two separate deductions, but also linked in that they form the basis of how Crais approaches his entire narrative.

For one, Crais blames all of captialism’s rise on slavery… without even going into the 20th century to try to frame the various labor debates there as also slavery or even including the rise of mass incarceration or fast fashion or any other well known labor abuses as also slavery, choosing to instead end his narrative at the end of the 19th century. Thus, even though Great Britain ended slavery relatively early in the time period Crais does choose to focus on and the US fought a civil war near the end of it to force the end of slavery… Crais still blames all of capitalism’s ills on, according to him, capitalism being based on slavery and absolutely nothing else.

For another, and yes, I hinted at this above, Crais is oddly specific in his choice of time period and even areas of focus, choosing to examine only Great Britain and the United States and to begin specifically in 1750 with the publication of Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations and end at the end of the 19th century, well before capitalism *really* took off… and yet also before communism caused the deaths of literally millions of people itself… often via direct State violence. This odd specificity allows Crais to openly ignore other violences even within the period he chooses to examine, such as the Napoleonic Wars.

There is great promise in a book that truly and fully explores the history of human violence in its totality and shows how that violence has created and shaped our modern world as we know it.

I simply wish Crais had made even a modicum of an attempt at writing such a history. Perhaps this book would have been better with a different title and more honest and specific premise?

Not recommended.

This review of The Killing Age by Clifton Crais was originally written on September 6, 2025.

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#BookReview: The Last Letter Of Rachel Ellsworth

Strong Travel/ Foodie / Found Family Drama Shoots Itself In The Foot. This is one of those books where everyone is flawed – and it tells a remarkable story *because* of this, not in spite of it. So if you’re a reader where at least one character has to be some level of perfect for you to enjoy the book…. I tell you here and now you’re not going to like this one. So save O’Neal yet another 2 star or lower review because you’ve been warned right here, right now that this isn’t your kind of tale.

For the rest of us flawed humans, this is actually a remarkable tale of picking yourself back up – and finding some fortuitous help along the way to help you do that. And yes, those people are going to be flawed too, and you may actually get a chance to help them even as they help you… hey! isn’t that how friendships and families are *supposed* to work? Have so many of us been so damaged by modern life that we’ve forgotten this? Or is it the idealized world of booklandia that is just too perfect? Regardless, O’Neal ignores the perfection of people in pursuit of the perfection of story, and she does a truly remarkable job here. One of her books, The Art Of Inheriting Secrets, was the first Advance Review Copy review I posted on my then brand new blog when I started it all the way back in July 2018, and it has been a true pleasure reading her most every year since. Of those I’ve read in that time, this is easily in the upper half in terms of depth of emotion evoked and pure joy of reading.

As a foodie and travel romp, this story also works quite well. While we don’t get the steaks or *ahem* Rocky Mountain oysters *ahem* of Colorado, once the story starts traveling beyond the US, we wind up in a few different countries and a few different cafes within each, and the food honestly sounds phenomenal. I hope O’Neal had recipes for these fictional dishes, because I absolutely want my wife to try to make some of them for me. No, I’m not joking about this at all. That is how lovely and visceral O’Neal makes these scenes. Also the traveling itself, at times making deliberate choices within the story to slow down and not just jet-set all over the place, to take the time and really embrace the place you’re in (or, more accurately, where we find the characters in that scene… warts and all.

But I did mention that for all the praise I’ve heaped on this book – deservedly – it shot itself in the foot too, right? Well, to discuss that part absolutely goes into spoiler territory, and since the various places I post these reviews don’t always have good spoiler tags, let’s play it this way, shall we?

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.

The blatant mistake O’Neal makes is that she allows her utter disdain for one particular type of tool to come through the page of the text here as much as her love of food and travel does. She didn’t need to use a mass shooting to achieve the character dynamics she has here, *many* other things would have worked just as well or perhaps even better. Not even that ‘perhaps’, as using this particular vehicle and using it the particular way O’Neal does will actively turn people off across the political spectrum for a variety of reasons, and many particularly pro-gun people will likely want to defenestrate the book from the highest available window. (But don’t. Read the book anyway, because it *is* a particularly strong tale even with this – it could simply have been *so much more* without it.)

Also, she kills a dog. Come on. That is a *complete* throwaway that was 100% an unforced error, and *nobody* likes killing dogs – at least nobody that most of society wants anything to do with. Again, there were other ways to achieve the same results as far as characterizations. You didn’t have to kill the dog.

Yet neither of these are truly objective criticisms – there are many who don’t like guns and will share O’Neal’s disdain for them, who will thus praise her for using them the way she did, and like I mentioned, *some* absolute idiots don’t mind killing dogs. But is that *really* a crowd you want to *market into*???? Still, because they weren’t even approaching objective criticism, I couldn’t really allow myself to deduct one or even multiple stars for it – yet it *did* need to be mentioned in this review, if deep within a spoiler coded section.

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

Ultimately, this was a fun, if deep and emotional as well, book that did a lot of things right… and then shot itself in the foot. Maybe even both feet.

But you, oh reader of my review, give it a read yourself, then let us know your own thoughts wherever you are reading mine. I’d love to see what you think, even if it is just a few words. Reviews don’t need to be long – really only about as many words as the first sentence of this paragraph – and can truly just be “I did (not, if applicable) like this book because (insert a reason here).” You only need 24 words to be accepted everywhere I currently know of, and I just gave you 6 of them (or 7 if you didn’t like it). *Anyone* can come up with an additional 18 words. Particularly if you’ve just finished reading a near 400 page book. 🙂

Very much recommended.

This review of The Last Letter Of Rachel Ellsworth by Barbara O’Neal was originally written on August 2, 2025.

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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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#BlogTour: What’s Mine Is Yours by Leah Mercer

For this blog tour, we’re looking at a twisty tale that packs a lot of story into its short-ish package. For this blog tour, we’re looking at What’s Mine Is Yours by Leah Mercer.

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

Twisty Tale Packs A Lot Of Action Into Its Short-Ish Package. This is one of those sub-300 page books that is going to feel like it *has* to be longer than it is… in all the best ways. For all that happens here, you’re going to be thinking this book is probably 100 or more pages longer than it actually is… and you’re not even going to notice until you get to the end, look down, and question your sense of reality when you see the actual page number.

And speaking of questioning reality, this is absolutely one of those ultra twisty psychological thrillers where both the characters – and you, the reader – will be questioning all that you know (possibly even in your own “real” life) by the end.

I’ve read several of Mercer’s books now, and this is absolutely both a solid look at her style (for new readers) and quite easily among the best she’s done to date (for readers who have been around a while and already get excited when they see her name on a book). Either newbie or established fan, this one is one that will likely gain her far more fans than it loses. (Let’s face it, *no* book is for everyone, and there *will* eventually be – wrong – reviews that claim this book is lacking in some aspect. Some people are idiots, and you just have to move on. 😉 (And yes, I fully acknowledge that some consider *me* to be an idiot, but I also doubt those people are reading this review. :D) )

There will be at least some who don’t want to read it for the simple reason of its basic premise, which largely hinges on mothers’ fears, even years after the baby is born, which is respectable. As a childfree married dude, I *fully* get this, particularly given the book’s release date between UK Mother’s Day and US Mother’s Day. For these types, I think the book is strong enough and doesn’t really dive into too many problematic issues within the childfree community that I think many of us can still enjoy this book as much as I have, but again, from this angle (and similar), I absolutely get deciding that this book maybe isn’t for you. Just please, I beg you – you’ve now been warned about this in this very review, so PLEASE don’t DNF / 1* this book because of these issues. Just skip it entirely. You. Have. Been. Warned. 🙂

Overall truly an excellent tale superbly told, and great for when you maybe don’t have as much time as you’d LIKE to read, but still don’t want to read a sub-200 page book either (even though there are many at that length that are also awesome, fwiw).

Very much recommended.

After the jump, the “publisher details” – book info, description, author bio, social links, and buy links.
Continue reading “#BlogTour: What’s Mine Is Yours by Leah Mercer”

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#BookReview: His Truth Her Truth by Noelle Holten

Slow Front Builds To Frenetic End. This is one of those stories that starts out with a bang in its prologue before going back in time and achieving the pace of… well, probably a tired slug racing an exhausted turtle. In other words, it is rather S L O W in the beginning.

But hang around, because as things start picking up they also begin spiraling, and soon enough your heart is beating faster as your brain is getting a good workout trying to read at the pace of the plot.

There’s a lot going on in these pages, and a lot that a lot of people won’t like – particularly so much domestic abuse, among other issues. But there is also a lot to like overall here, and Holten does a solid job of telling exactly the story she seemingly wants to tell at exactly the pace she seemingly wants to tell it at.

Ultimately, this is one that will have you gripping the final pages, desperate to see exactly how it ends… and that is pretty much what most people want of our thrillers, right?

Very much recommended.

This review of His Truth Her Truth by Noelle Holten was originally written on March 1, 2025.

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#BlogTour: The Younger Woman by Cate Ray

For this blog tour, we’re looking at . For this blog tour, we’re looking at The Younger Woman by Cate Ray.

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

Editing Miscues Mar Otherwise Solid Suspense Story. The story told in this book really is quite solid. It may not work for *everyone*, but I found it enjoyable and it seemed to fit well enough with the characters as portrayed that nothing was so far “out there” as to be too distracting. There are several twists and turns and while I realized the link possibly before the author meant me to – or possibly much later than Ray meant me to, due to the aforementioned editing miscues – it wasn’t anything that harmed my enjoyment of the tale. More of a “I know something you don’t know” to hold over the main character until she finally realizes it herself.

But the editing miscues. Ugh. Not enough to deduct a star over, because it isn’t really an “objective-ish” issue, but it absolutely marred my enjoyment of reading this book. Specifically, the way the timeline bounced around with little warning and with even less differentiation. Nothing about the way the text was formatted or the way these jumps into the past were written gave any indication beyond the “x time earlier” at the beginning of the chapter, and while that can (and has) worked in other books… for some reason it just *didn’t* here, and I’m not overly sure why. It could absolutely be a “me” thing though, so read this book and see for yourself – and write your own review so I can have a more complete picture of whether or not this *is* a “me” thing. 🙂

Ultimately a solid story that shows promise for this author’s continued career, but I do hope the editing issues can be resolved (or shown at least to be just a “me” problem).

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 Younger Woman by Cate Ray”

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#BookReview: The Girl In The Smoke by Matt Hilton

Relentless Action. This is one of those books that starts off with the barest semblance of “normalcy”, and then… well, I hope you like balls to the walls action, because that is what you’re going to get here. The heart of the crime here is typical enough to be easily understood, with enough wrinkles to make it interesting to try to figure out exactly what the hell happened. But the action is what you’re here for. If, like me, you found Hilton first through the Po and Villere thrillers… well, if you thought the action in those tales was relentless, you aint seen nothing yet. And here, the action is just as violent as anything you’ll see there… without the massive hulking excons to execute it. Indeed, in what could be a bit of a bridge too far for some, the young girl in question has more of a proclivity for violence than some of those entrusted with her care, which produces interesting relational dynamics at times. Overall a fun and short action thriller, great for those times when you just want some basic escapism without too much thinking involved. Very much recommended.

This review of The Girl In The Smoke by Matt Hilton was originally written on February 8, 2024.

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#BookReview: The Trap by Gregg Dunnett

Silence Of The Lambs Homage With Twists. This is one of those books that I honestly never would have connected it with Silence Of The Lambs had other reviewers not pointed that connection out, but it absolutely does fit here. Of course, along similar lines one could also connect this tale to the legendary Sherlock Holmes tales, which ultimately most modern detective tales come from in some way or another. Honestly, the connection I made while reading the book itself was to Starfield, a long awaited game that finally released nearly three months before this book did, and which I’ve been playing quite heavily since. *That* connection will only make sense after you’ve read this book *and* played that game all the way through at least once though.

Overall, this is a pulse pounding thriller, one where a brilliant detective faces off with an equally brilliant – and possibly moreso – serial killer. In this case… the showdown that we were promised in Book 1 of this series, The Cove. The murders here are particularly brutal, and our heroine has quite a bit in common with that famous 19th century detective in several ways, making this quite the compelling tale.

As to whether a Book 3 may be coming… I love the fact that the author actually weaves into the tale here a discussion of why that may not actually be a great idea… and yet… I ultimately still think I want to see it anyway. So we’ll see what Dunnett and his publisher do next.

Very much recommended.

This review of The Trap by Gregg Dunnett was originally written on December 31, 2023.