Archives for February 2025

The Accidental Sisterhood by Julie Edelman

February 4, 2025 By Leave a Comment


The Accidental Sisterhood by Julie Edelman
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Women’s Fiction, Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Nymphaea

Jules Malone has sworn off love after two failed relationships: one with an abusive fiancé whom she calls her white knight-mare, and the other with a nice-but-boring ex with whom she co-parents their son, Max. But then one fateful Christmas Eve, Jules meets Sean, a twinkly-eyed charmer with a captivating smile and an unexpected invitation. Despite Jules’s efforts to stay guarded, she finds herself irresistibly drawn to him.

As their relationship deepens, so does Sean’s unpredictable behavior. He misses Jules’s calls, changes plans abruptly, and hangs up quickly when she enters the room. One night after returning home from a charity meeting, she finds Sean missing and blood everywhere. Panicked, she’s about to call 911 when she hears a phone ringing on her patio. It is Sean’s. By the time she gets to it, the caller has hung up. Multiple texts follow-as does Jules’s journey of shocking discoveries. The first? That she is one of four women sharing full lives with Sean.

But it is the devastating secret these women uncover together that leads to a resolution none of them could ever have imagined…and to the power of sisterhood.

A woman trying to rebuild her life and finding out that life is more complicated than she ever believed.

I did like that this story involved real life situations. I picked up this book knowing full well there might be trigger warnings. Jules is a woman navigating life after two men that weren’t her dreamy forever man. She’s trying to raise a son and get through life. It’s not easy. But her exes aren’t the half of it. She meets Sean. He’s the one she thinks she’s looking for.

I could identify with her need to slow down with Sean. Been there, done that on my end. I liked that she was relatable in that way. I also liked that she wasn’t perfect. Finally, a few characters that aren’t perfect, but aren’t so flawed it’s hard to get behind them. I liked Jules. I will say Sean’s antics could be a struggle for some readers and might trigger them. He’s not what he could be, and it helps to layer the story, but again, might bother some readers.

That’s not to say this is a book to skip. Far from it. Pick this book up knowing there might be some angles that are difficult, but it’s worth the read. The difficulty makes the story more memorable.

Check it out.

Filed Under: Mainstream Fiction, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

In the Darkness of Shards – Poems from a Broken Place by Catherine Anne Castillo

February 4, 2025 By Leave a Comment


In the Darkness of Shards – Poems from a Broken Place by Catherine Anne Castillo
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Non-Fiction, Contemporary
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

In the Darkness of Shards is a raw, unflinching collection of poetry that explores trauma, love, and the journey of self-reclamation. With piercing honesty, Catherine Castillo reflects on a relationship where love and pain intertwined, exposing the toxic cycles and emotional chaos that shaped it. Through vivid, evocative verses, she invites readers to examine their own relationships, confront their own hidden wounds and begin their own healing journey.

More than just poetry, this book offers a lifeline for anyone navigating toxic relationships, loss, and transformation. Each verse provides a mirror to the heart and a guide to reclaiming strength through vulnerability. In the Darkness of Shards is a testament to resilience, showing that even in the darkest moments, self-understanding and empowerment are within reach.

Not everything that starts out well ends on the same note.

Anyone can fall into an abusive relationship, especially considering how charming someone with abusive tendencies can be as they’re making a first impression or trying to woo their victim back. I appreciated the author’s use of poetry to give examples of red flags to look out for in the beginning, middle, and end of this sort of relationship. Some of them can be quite subtle the first time they appear, but the little hints that something is terribly wrong will only grow worse over time.

This collection also did a great job of showing how deeply traumatizing abuse can be. As the narrator descended even further into their relationship, they began doubting everything from their own memory to their ability to do simple things that they’d previously done easily and without assistance. Keep an eye on these moments as they linked all of the poems together beautifully as well as continued to build on the author’s messages about surviving such experiences.

Obviously, this is a sober, dark topic, but I enjoyed the moments of hope that shone through even the worst chapters of the narrator’s life. There is always the possibility of life suddenly improving for the better even if one doesn’t currently know how or when that might happen. Many different types of people need this message, of course, but folks who are either currently being abused or are recovering from such an experience need an even larger helping of it than someone who isn’t struggling with this sort of adversity. If it’s possible to hope for a better day, taking small steps to disengage from a toxic relationship and rebuild one’s life becomes so much easier. For that reason, I’m glad those passages were included and allowed to flourish.

In the Darkness of Shards – Poems from a Broken Place was thought provoking and encouraging.

Filed Under: Non-Fiction, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

Night of the Hawk by Lauren Martin – Guest Post and Giveaway

February 4, 2025 By 8 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Lauren Martin will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

“Ten things people don’t know about me” I immediately think, “have I told people everything about me now that I put out this book?”

Poetry is so vulnerable and I think mine is certainly direct. That said, my life as a shaman has required very private seeking and ritual. I spent years fairly nomadic seeking spiritual answers. I’ve become habituated to living in two different worlds and one which is very difficult to share. So the process of writing work that expresses my deepest joys, pains and regrets feels very exposed. But I have found it deeply rewarding to meet so many other thoughtful writers and readers who have either been moved by my words or have shared their own convictions. The world is full of people trying to be better and understand themselves. Even if we are told otherwise.

Ifá. Nature. Illness. Love. Loss. Misogyny. Aging. Africa. Our wounded planet. In this sweeping yet intensely personal collection, Lauren Martin tells the untold stories of the marginalized, the abused, the ill, the disabled—the different. Inspired by her life’s experiences, including the isolation she has suffered as a result both of living with chronic illness and having devoted herself to a religion outside the mainstream, these poems explore with raw vulnerability and unflinching honesty what it is to live apart—even as one yearns for connection.

But Night of the Hawk is no lament; it is powerful, reverential, sometimes humorous, often defiant—“Oh heat me and fill me / I rise above lines”—and full of wisdom. Visceral and stirring, the poems in this collection touch on vastly disparate subjects but are ultimately unified in a singular quest: to inspire those who read them toward kindness, compassion, and questioning.

Enjoy an Excerpt

A SEA OF KISSES

One kiss to
Make me stay
Two to
Start the day
Three and
I’m on my way.

About the Author:

Screenshot

Lauren Martin is a psychotherapist, poet, and a devoted Ìyânífá. Born in Boston and spending many years in New York and Paris, she currently lives in Oakland, California. Lauren studied psychology, photography and poetry at Sarah Lawrence College. She spent years writing without submitting her work due to a long shamanic journey, which led her to both Ifá, and to the writing of several books (including this collection of poems.) The upcoming publication of Night of the Hawk (SheWrites Press, 2024), reflects a deeply personal experience of illness, isolation and true shamanism.

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Top Ten Tuesday: 2024 Releases I Was Excited to Read but Still Haven’t Gotten To

February 4, 2025 By 40 Comments


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Making TBR lists is so much easier than reading the books on them!

It’s sort of like having a meal that consists of all of your favorite foods.

The temptation to put more food on your plate than can easily fit into your stomach is strong.

Luckily, books don’t spoil if you put off reading them until your literary appetite returns.

Here are some of the 2024 releases I previously blogged about for Long and Short Reviews, have not read yet, but do hope to read eventually.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years by Shubnum Khan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.  Eruption by Michael Crichton

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Build a Girlfriend by Elba Luz

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.  Januaries by Olivie Blake

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. Hope Ablaze by Sarah Mughal Rana

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. You Like It Darker by Stephen King

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8. We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9. Somewhere Beyond the Sea (The House in the Cerulean Sea, #2)  by T.J. Klune

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10. The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer

 

 

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Musings Tagged With: ,

The Dark Angel by Elly Griffiths

February 3, 2025 By Leave a Comment


The Dark Angel by Elly Griffiths
Publisher: Quercus
Genre: Contemporary, Historical, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

When archaeologist Angelo Morelli asks Ruth Galloway to come to the Italian countryside to help identify bones found in picturesque Fontana Liri, she jumps at the chance to go—and brings her daughter along for what she assumes will be a working vacation. Upon arriving, Ruth hears murmurs of Fontana Liri’s strong resistance movement during World War II, and begins to sense that the townspeople are harboring an age-old secret. But how, if at all, could this chapter in history be connected to the human remains that Angelo has unearthed? Just as she’s getting her footing in the dig, DCI Nelson appears, unexpectedly and for no clear reason. When Ruth’s findings lead her and her crew to a modern-day murder, their holiday turns into anything but as they race to find out what darkness is lurking in this seemingly peaceful place. . .and who may be on their trail.

Dr Ruth Galloway finds herself in a bit of a low patch. With her mother only recently dead in the last few months, her off/on relationship with her married lover – DCI Harry Nelson – solidly off for now, and Nelson’s wife newly pregnant things are feeling difficult for Ruth. When an old colleague from Italy calls out of the blue asking for Ruth’s assistance, it feels like exactly the right time for her and her young daughter to take a quick working vacation before the school year starts once again. Only things in the sleepy little Italian town are not as peaceful as Ruth was expecting. Can she sort out what’s really going on before she and her daughter find themselves in danger?

I really love the plots in this series – always finding them to be a solid weaving together of British police procedural mystery and scientific archaeology. The plots and mystery are always clear and multi-layered. The romantic and family relationships, however, is usually quite murky, messy and often heart wrenching. I find Ruth generally to be a strong and independent heroine for these stories. While it’s completely understandable that Ruth is a little blue with quite a few changes having occurred in the recent past for her, I did find that low ebb of her confidence really seemed to cast a bit of a cloud over the story for me. I also think having Cathbad back in England and Ruth in Italy for the majority of the book might have helped this darker cloud feeling seep into the story for me. I feel Cathbad often can help Ruth feel a little more optimistic and seen. I really feel he lightens her thoughts sometimes and for this book I could have used a bit more of that.

That all said I absolutely love the murder mystery aspect to this plot and as always, I found the strongly written and well plotted archaeology was a joy to read. For me personally this is hands down the best series out there with this style of writing – I guess I just wish the personal and romantic relationships weren’t as messy and complicated as they are.

Readers who want a straightforward mystery might not find this gives them what they wanted. The inter-personal relationships take up a fair bit of space in this novel and while the plot and history are strong components of this book the relationships certainly give the other plots a run for their money. Readers who have enjoyed the previous installments likely will thoroughly enjoy this book as much as they have the others – and like me curiosity on what will happen next shall likely compel them into reading more, just like I’m sure I’ll be picking up the next in the series as well. A well plotted and well written novel, though an emotionally difficult one to read.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

Embracing Failure by Hannah Jordan – Guest Blog and Giveaway

February 3, 2025 By 11 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Enter to win a $25 Amazon/BN gift card.

Embracing Failure
The worst part of being a writer, for me, has always been the rejection. As a parenting blogger, I had internet trolls comment on my actual life, but that’s the price you pay for putting your words into the world. Over time, I grew a thick skin.

As a romance author, it’s my stories and characters that face criticism. No matter how thick I believe my skin to be, a critical review still hurts. I read them anyway. I want to continue to improve as a writer, so I read the comments and reviews—even the ones that break my heart a little.

At some point in my writing journey, I received this little nugget of wisdom:

If you’re not failing, you’re not striving.

Fearing failure keeps us from taking (or better yet making) opportunities. If every risk you take ends with success, you’re probably not reaching high enough. If only my friends and family read my novels, I wouldn’t have to worry about hurtful reviews. But then I wouldn’t be sharing my work with people beyond my social circle.

The second piece of advice that completely changed my view of rejection was this:

No doesn’t mean never. It means not this or not now.

Keep in mind, this one is specific to writing. If you ask someone out and they say no, move on. But if you submit to an agent and they say no, chances are they’ll consider a query from you for a different manuscript. They aren’t saying no to you. They’re saying no to the work because it’s either not what they want or not at a time they want it. The same goes for presses and publications. Often, you’re closer to an acceptance than you think.

For better or worse, rejection is an inherent part of a writer’s life. You have to learn to embrace it. Keep trying. Keep getting rejected. There’s a point where the dreamers stop and the gritty keep going. Learn from your mistakes, especially the ones that gut you, and move on.

When Rowan’s two-year marriage ends with a crash, she returns home to Peace Falls, VA, riding shotgun in her sister’s 1990 Cadillac hearse. Everything about her is damaged: her heart, her pride, her bank account, and her spine—thanks to a tourist, a Segway, and finding her husband getting busy with her boss. But Rowan is determined to reclaim her career and city life as soon as she recuperates and lands a new job.

Caleb “Cal” Cardoso didn’t notice wallflower Rowan in high school, but the former football star, and Peace Falls’s newest physical therapist, can’t take his eyes off the stunning redhead now. Too bad he’s sworn off relationships. After his last hookup purposely tanked his online reputation, Cal stands to lose his job if a single patient leaves his care. Which is why he can’t let Rowan switch to another practitioner, despite the friction between them, and why he definitely can’t act on his growing attraction.

Rowan agrees to remain Cal’s patient if he helps her younger brother train for football tryouts. Though Cal hasn’t touched a football since the accident that killed his best friend, he agrees, and as Cal helps heal Rowan’s body, she begins to heal his heart.

For You I’d Break is a small town romance with a hefty dash of spice, a HEA ending, and a cast of memorable characters, including a goth sculptor who secretly loves to decorate cakes, a fearsome-looking felon with a heart of gold, a hothead with a sweet side, a karma-devoted barista who collects damaged pets and first dates, and a lovable dog with more emotional sense than everyone put together.

Enjoy an Excerpt

Being a wallflower makes you thirsty, so parched for attention your heart feels brittle. Then after years—or in my case a lifetime—someone finally sees you. The exquisite feeling seeps deep, the attention saturating your life. So, you jump, headfirst. The red flags go unnoticed. Declarations of love tossed as lightly as petals. Maybe you marry him, like I did. Maybe you bloom in domestic bliss with a house in the suburbs and two adorable kids. Maybe a dog. Bare minimum a pet turtle.

I wasn’t so lucky.

After two years of marriage, instead of house hunting in the outskirts of DC, I was riding shotgun in my sister’s 1990 Cadillac hearse, headed back to Peace Falls, VA, with everything I owned stuffed where a coffin ought to be.

I’d cried so much in the past three hours, I could barely make out the foothills rising in the distance. My throat was raw. Crumpled tissues littered the floorboard, and lint covered my leggings.

The tears surprised me. Apart from a couple of late-night phone calls to my mother after I left the hospital, I’d held it together pretty well. I was too busy tying up the loose ends of my life in DC to feel anything but stressed. The moment Poppy arrived to drive me home, the tears started and built with every box, bag, and lamp we slid into the hearse.

About the Author Hannah Jordan grew up in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia but wound up in South Jersey after falling in love with her complete opposite. She’s got all the degrees of a “serious” fiction writer but only smiles when she’s writing romance.

She lives with her husband and two daughters in a picturesque town outside of Philadelphia where she enjoys reading in all genres, especially the spicy ones, and confusing people with her half-Southern, half-Northern accent.

The first book in her Peace Falls Small Town Romance Series, For You I’d Break, launched July 17, 2024.

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Tarnished by Erica Rose Eberhart – Spotlight and Giveaway

February 3, 2025 By 4 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Erica Rose Eberhart will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

In the struggling city of Braewick, a determined 20-year-old gate guard named Ailith MacCree longs for a chance at financial stability and adventure. Little does she know, her wish is about to come true. She accepts a mission from Princess Greer that promises both: escort Princess Caitriona to the Endless Mountains to meet the enigmatic hermit for a great financial reward. Ailith jumps at the opportunity and bids goodbye to all she’s ever known. But as they journey together, Ailith discovers that Caitriona holds a dangerous secret-she possesses powerful magic in a kingdom where magic is outlawed.

Ailith and Caitriona face mysterious attacks and supernatural challenges. But as they delve deeper into the treacherous landscape, Ailith learns of Caitriona’s tragic past and the dark curse that threatens her very existence.

With rebellion brewing in Braewick, and the oppressive king hot on their trail, Ailith must not only navigate her growing feelings for Caitriona, but also fight against relentless foes. As they race against time to stop the curse, Ailith and Caitriona uncover shocking truths about their kingdom, their families, and themselves.

Will their burgeoning romance survive the trials ahead? Can they break the curse and save their homeland from tyranny? Join Ailith and Caitriona on a thrilling quest filled with magic, danger, and heart-pounding adventure. Fans of high-stakes fantasy will not want to miss this epic tale.

Enjoy an Excerpt

“I see the way you look at her. I see how she looks at you. You know that even at the end of all of this, if all goes according to plan, you’ll never be able to be near Ailith again, don’t you? After all of this, father wants to marry you off and will have her head. We’ll have to ensure she can live peacefully far from Braewick. She’ll be gone from our lives.”

“Does the sun love the moon?” Caitriona interrupted. She looked at Ailith’s sleeping form and everything within her yearned to reach forward and touch her. She was like a moth to a flame, pulled so immediately the sensation was bewildering. “Even though they’re often apart, they still manage to share the sky every once in a while.”

About the Author: Erica Rose Eberhart grew up in the Catskills region and spent many formative years in both Eastern Pennsylvania and Northern Virginia. She now resides with her family and cat in the Finger Lakes region of New York. A technical editor by trade, she has a Master’s degree in English and Creative Writing. Erica has written stories since she was able to write sentences and has found comfort in fantasy her entire life, whether by consuming fantastical stories or creating her own. Beside the comfort of books, Erica adores nature walks, crocheting, embroidery, cats, baking and autumn. You can follow her many adventures on social media @ericaroseeberhart. Tarnished is her first published novel.

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