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Category Archives: Book Reviews – Fiction


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‘No Place Too Far’ Brings Family Home

No Place Too Far

(Lake Union Publishing, September 1, 2020)
By Kay Bratt

A Maui-based book that begins with a shaggy dog named Woodrow? Count me in!

A highly engaging story with a smooth-as-silk plot, No Place Too Far is just plain fun. It snaps and crackles with energy throughout and is chockful of memorable characters like a precocious four year-old named Charlie, a scatter-brained but loveable veterinarian, Dr. Joe Starr, and a blue-haired dynamo named Juniper.

Setting

Lush tropical locations and a pitch-perfect pacing surf in and out of intrigue, danger, and triumph. Oh yeah. There’s this great dog and veterinary heroes, too. My kinda book!

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Is ‘The Lost Queen’ Worth the Hunt?

The Lost Queen: A Novel (. Book #1 of The Lost Queen. Simon & Schuster, 2018)

By Signe Pike

Set in sixth century Scotland, The Lost Queen is a retelling of the Arthurian legend via the sister of Merlin.

Languoreth is the daughter of an ancient king (or chieftain). As such, she’s duty-bound to marry for socio-political reasons and not for love. But she has an affair with a young general.

Told in the first person, the story begins with Languoreth and her twin brother, Lailoken (later known as Merlin), mourning the recent loss of their mother, a Wisdom Keeper skilled in the healing arts. (Since this is a book review, not a history lesson, I am not going to delve into the historical underpinnings of this book and its protagonist. Google is your friend.)

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Why ‘Rainbow Bridge’ Will Melt Your Heart

Rainbow Bridge_COVER

Rainbow Bridge (Mirador, 2020)

By Dan V. Jackson

I can’t put into words how much I loved this book. How much I didn’t want it to end. How I really, really ought to buy stock in Kleenex.

For example, when I’m getting ready to write a book review, I typically take notes throughout the book. I started doing that with Rainbow Bridge. Then I stopped. The story took over. It resonated so deeply, in fact, I couldn’t read it and take notes at the same time. So I put my notes away and immersed myself in this extraordinarily powerful and poignant story.

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‘A Letter to Munich’ Raises Ultimate Questions

A Letter from Munich (Black Rose Writing, 2020)

By Meg Lelvis

A wartime romance. Forbidden love. Buried secrets.

Retired Chicago detective Jack Bailey has a “missing persons” case that’s a doozie. It’s also intensely personal. Stretching back to World War II, the case involves a cryptic one-page letter to his late father. The family finds it when sorting through Dad’s belongings after his death. Can it shed any light on who he was and why?

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How ‘Chances Are’ Echoes Theseus and the Minotaur

Image result for Chances Are Russo Book Cover

Chances Are…

By Richard Russo

What happens when a trio of aging college friends meet for a September weekend of reminiscence, mystery and regret some four decades after they graduated? Well, chances are they wind up with more than they bargained for, especially in the coulda/woulda/shoulda department.

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‘An Agent for Dixie’: Snack-Worthy Historical Romance

An Agent for Dixie (The Pinkerton Matchmaker series Book 73)

An Agent for Dixie (The Pinkerton Matchmaker Series. BackLit PR, 2020.)
By Linda Carroll-Bradd

Shy and reserved Dixie Fontaine is a young seamstress. Her older sister Liana is daring and adventurous. When Dixie allows her sister to talk her into applying to be an agent with the Pinkerton detective agency in 1872 Denver, Dixie is sure she won’t make the grade. But she surprises herself – and everyone else – by landing the job.

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‘For Whom the Book Tolls’ Rings Bells!

For Whom the Book Tolls: An Antique Bookshop Mystery

For Whom the Book Tolls: An Antique Bookshop Mystery (Crooked Lane Books, August 2020)

By Laura Gail Black

It’s not looking good for young Jenna Quinn. Newly arrived at a small North Carolina town at the invitation of her Uncle Paul, Jenna finds her uncle dead in his antique bookstore. Jenna’s the prime suspect. It looks even worse when the police find out she’s just beaten an embezzlement/murder rap and is the primary beneficiary of her uncle’s will. Uncle Paul not only named her the new owner of Baxter Books Emporium, he also left Jenna a lot of dough.

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5-ish Top Books of 2020

Amazon

Wild Land, by Rebecca Hodge. Crooked Lane Books, 2020.

You know how moms are? Always wanting to get the last word? Well. Today it’s my turn.

Kimber here to tell you about one of the best books mom and I have read all year. (Hint: Juni and Tye!)

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Huck Finn Meets The Great Depression in “This Tender Land”

 

This Tender Land, by William Kent Krueger

Atria Books, 2019

A poignant coming of age novel set amid the grim backdrop of the Great Depression, This Tender Land is a Huckleberry Finn-esque type story. It’s about four children who escape a horrific Indian school by canoeing down the rivers of Minnesota to St. Louis.

And much more.

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Ties That Bind Can Burn in “The Bitterroots”

The Bitterroots, by C.J. Box

St. Martin’s Publishing Group, 2019

Ever been unsure of an author or a title but decided to dive in anyway, and discover a pleasant surprise in the process?

 

That’s how I felt after reading C.J. Box’s new crime thriller, The Bitterroots. True confession: I nabbed it off the library’s New shelf cuz of the cover. I mean, hey! Rugged mountains. Jet-puffed clouds. Fiery Montana meadows. And a tall, lanky cowboy.

 

What’s not to love?

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