Posted on — Leave a comment

ROADWORK by John Alvah Barnes Jr & Naomi Lynn Barnes

A remarkable examination of love… Addictively readable. John Alvah Barnes Jr and Naomi Lynn Barnes’s latest is an elegiac portrait of an unconventional couple exploring the nature of true love. It is 1974. Kyle is a high school senior, merely…
Posted on — Leave a comment

The Coal Miner’s War by Randall Reese

A page-turner… Reese weaves a compelling fictionalized retelling of history, taking readers into a turbulent time in Colorado’s unsavory past. Struggling to come to terms with the tragic death of his wife and child, Louis Tikas is determined to stay…
Posted on — Leave a comment

Skullduggery at Downtown Medicine Mound by Dennis Boyd Call

Original, compelling, otherworldly… Call’s compelling, heartwarming latest continues Jonathan Parker’s journey as he comes face to face with a powerful enemy. Jonathan has barely celebrated his earlier victory when he finds himself entangled in yet another problem: the To-sa-wi Alliance…
Posted on — Leave a comment

Legacy of Flame by Rebecca Bapaye

An outstanding tale of magic, mystery, and dark intrigues of politics… Bapaye weaves an intricate tapestry of magic, mayhem, and intrigue in her debut fantasy. The fierce Elia Kolenikova, queen of the Ice Realm, is determined to protect the druid…
Posted on — Leave a comment

Bloodlines (A Dying Truth Exposed, Book One) by Marcus Abston

A gripping and detailed historical, with plenty of intrigue… A young slave struggles to navigate the ups and downs of her difficult life in Abston’s gripping historical. As a slave on the Browns’s cotton plantation in Mississippi, the life for…
Posted on — Leave a comment

Dark Farm by Dean Raven

Brilliantly unsettling and addictive… The volatile supernatural world of powerful wizards, destructive gods, magic, and cosmic terror proves an impressive setting for a story that’s high on suspense and intrigue in Raven’s supernatural thriller. Sam Morgan from the government’s National…
Posted on — Leave a comment

Everything, Somewhere by David Duane Kummer

An enticing and haunting story of friendship, loss, and hope… Old secrets, betrayal, loneliness, and small-town intrigue propel Kummer’s excellent YA drama. Hudson, Mason, and Willow, the high school seniors and best friends, are barely going through the motions of…
Posted on — Leave a comment

The Tempter’s Bane (The Drifters’ Road Book 2) by Kyle McCurry

A gorgeous, page-turning fantasy… Adroegen and his friends take readers on an exhilarating journey in McCurry’s engrossing second installment in The Drifters’ Road series, as they set to face a powerful, sinister enemy. The goblin chief is killed, but the…
Posted on — Leave a comment

Surviving Carmelita by Susan Miura

Haunting and beautiful… A poignant tale. Miura’s powerful, uplifting latest delves into themes of guilt, trauma, and recovery. After Josie accidently kills Carmelita, her best friend’s little daughter, she is unable to function. Weighed down with guilt, she leaves her…
Posted on — Leave a comment

Skullduggery at Quanah by Dennis Boyd Call

Meticulously researched and elegantly written… A gripping tale. Set in the area around Quanah, Texas, Call’s excellent latest is an informed, moving portrait of one young man’s remarkable resilience and pride. On his eighteenth birthday, Jonathan is given responsibility to…
Posted on — Leave a comment

Tales From The Mud Hole, Why Pigs Are My Friends by Vally Mulford

Precisely observed and beautifully written… A rewarding book. Mulford debuts with this endearing personal memoir, taking readers on his year-long journey as the manager of a commercial hog farm. When Mulford, newly married and just out of college, decided to…
Posted on — 1 Comment

Blackout (The Sunrise Regiment Book 1) by Christine Luft

Original and intriguing… Weaving the strands of dystopia and zombie apocalypse—with touches of space opera and light fantasy—Luft’s SF takes readers on an exhilarating journey as the university students Danielle Proulx and her girlfriend Maisy find themselves struggling to survive…
Posted on — Leave a comment

Craven Falls (3 book series) by Donna M. Zadunajsky

A thrilling web of mystery and intrigue… Set in the quiet town of Craven Falls, Ohio, this suspenseful series from Zadunajsky shines with teenage drama, deadly secrets, murder, and intrigue. The first installment sees Scarlet Fitzgerald, the queen bee of…
Posted on — Leave a comment

Lily…Laura by Carol Di Prima

A powerful and tender tale… Imaginative prose and sharply drawn characters elevate the intriguing, original premise in Di Prima’s marvelous middle-grade drama. Someone is spreading malicious rumors about Jonathan Stephens. Twelve-year-old Laura Stephens is determined to get to the truth…
Posted on — Leave a comment

Letter to Lilly by Funmi Coker

Refreshing… Powerful. Coker’s impressive debut pulses with rhythms and assertiveness as it talks defiance against accepted order. The uplifting and inspiring “What Were You Told” urges all females, from a girl child to a mature woman, to believe in their…
Posted on — Leave a comment

Lagos is Killing Me by Oloyede Michael Taiwo

A piercing meditation on life, love, oppression, and freedom… Taiwo gathers the expanse of human experience of love, life, and death in his debut collection of poems. The images that tumble from the collection are both stunning and uplifting, whether…
Posted on — Leave a comment

Hælend’s Ballad by Ian V. Conrey

A triumphant debut… Conrey’s spellbinding debut is marked with darkness, individual struggles, and political intrigue. It’s been sixteen years since Sunder was invaded by brutal forces of Daecland. After losing his father to a brutal ambush, the young Arnon Greystrom…
Posted on — Leave a comment

The Buzz Boys by Edward Izzi

A blistering tale of abuse and trauma… Izzi’s outstanding latest offers poignant and profound examination of childhood abuse and trauma. Growing up in a small suburb in Chicago during the turbulent sixties and seventies, when the issues of household violence…
Posted on — Leave a comment

Justin and Benja’s Adventures in Dignity Village by Marsha Ralston

An incisive portrait of human resilience… Poignant prose and atmospheric setting mark this affecting refugee tale by Ralston. After losing his father and grandmother to a nightly raid, Justin is living with his mother in a tent in Mexico. With…
Posted on — Leave a comment

Heavenly by Thomas Duffy

A splendid tale of love and choices that define life… Duffy delivers a powerful story about second chances, faith, and love, taking readers on one man’s journey to finding meaning in his life.  John, a middle-aged man, is content working…