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LOVE, DESTRUCTION & PINOT NOIR by Indigo Bryerly

Appealing protagonists, haunting love, and a twisty plot… A highly satisfying story! Bryerly makes her foray into the world of romance with this solid entry, which explores self-destruction, true love, and deep addictions. At forty-five, Sophie Beaumont is a complete…
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Everyday Lies by Louise Guy

Uninspiring… The protagonists of Guy’s latest are two women who become embroiled in unhealthy behaviors while trying to deal with their personal issues. When the beautiful and wealthy Emma gets caught shoplifting and agrees to do community service at a…
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In a Moment by Sarah Gerdes

  A warmly satisfying read… A woman comes to term with soured relationships and ultimate betrayal in Gerdes’s beautifully written, gripping novel about treachery, the redemptive power of true love, and the special bond that comes from genuine friendship. Lindy…
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The Upside of Hunger: A True Tale by Roxi Harms

A poignant, arresting debut… Harms makes her dazzling foray into the world of fiction with this remarkable story about hunger, desperation, cruelty, and resilience which is set against the backdrop of WW II. Growing up in an isolated village in…
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Heather’s Mannequin: A Novel by Corey E. Toomey

A fast-paced, gripping dystopian drama…. Toomey’s briskly paced, high action, debut war drama is a sensitively handled story filled with thoroughly sketched, three-dimensional characters at heart. Twenty-two-year-old Heather Zlamanowski, an amputee and a primitivist with deadly secrets, is content to…
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She: A Cautionary Tale by Carla Howatt

A poignant, engrossing tale… Howatt’s debut is a resonant and moving portrayal of a woman who finds herself on a journey of self-discovery and acceptance after a suffocating relationship. Olivia, a professionally successful, single mother, is cynical of online dating…
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They: A Biblical Tale of Secret Genders by Janet Mason

  A taut, gripping, deeply intriguing tale… Mason reimagines the life of Tamar from the book of Genesis as she takes readers on a stunning journey, vividly evoking the world of Old Testament women and intersex individuals. Content and happily…
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Whale Rock by Diana Plater

A warmhearted, deeply intriguing drama… A small, cozy cafe in Sydney stands at the center of plater’s tale as it becomes a visiting space for various protagonists in this brilliantly crafted, poignant story. Shannon, the owner of a small seaside…
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Tenderness and Troubling Times: A Collection of Stories by Tara Wine-Queen

  A lyrical, poignant collection… The stories about breaking and rebuilding, losing and finding, and families occupy the theme of Tara’s brilliant story collection. Written in lyrical prose, “One More Thing to Make You Proud,” is both raw and honest.…
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Tales from the Aether: Extraodinary Tales of Dark Fiction, Dark Humor and Horror by Matthew C. Woodruff

  An unsettling, powerful collection… Award-winning Woodruff’s panache for writing shines in his second collection of short stories with the wildly imagined worlds, powerfully drawn realistic characters, and an unsettling portrayal of various happenings in his protagonists’ lives. Merging the…
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Chimera by Maddalena Di Gregorio

A fascinating, engrossing tale… Di Gregorio offers an absorbing dark tale that explores the twisted life of a young woman. Struggling with constant inner conflicts, Anna leaves her home in Montreal and settles in Vancouver. But her path to self-discovery…
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My Life in the Cat House: True Tales of Love, Laughter, and Living with Five Felines by Gwen Cooper

  Delightfully funny and moving… Cooper returns with the ongoing adventures of her much-beloved feline family in this delightful collection of eight stories. Born and raised in a dog-loving family, Cooper never considered herself a cat-person until a five-week-old rescue…
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Guesthouse for Ganesha by Judith Teitelman

A poignant story of love, loss, and survival… Set against the backdrop of the European Holocaust, Teitelman’s impressive book displays her penchant for revealing the darker side of the human heart. It is 1923 when seventeen-year-old Esther Grünspan arrives in…
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The Anchor House by Spencer Margaret

  A perfect beach read… An exploration of loss, happiness, and healing, Margaret’s brilliant debut digs into the private lives of three women. After a broken relationship and with no family to call on, Winnie Spade leaves her old life…
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The Last Seer King (Shadow Sword #2) by S.J. Hartland

  An outstanding, towering work of fantasy… As absorbing as the first book in the series, this follow up installment by Hartland sweeps the reader into a mesmerizing world of sorcery, dark magic, dangerous prophecies, and maniac obsessions. After Archanin,…
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The Book of Danzel: First Quarter by T.K. Lipps

Brilliantly written, darkly humorous, and original, The Book of Danzel is a must read… Depicting the first of four marking periods at Anchor Academy, the provocative and timely “The Book of Danzel” explores the underlying vulnerabilities of teenagers in a…