OldTown: Fly, Sparrow, Fly by A. K. Frailey

May 14, 2026 By Leave a Comment


OldTown: Fly, Sparrow, Fly by A. K. Frailey
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Rhona Dewar takes her niece, Syn, into her home after a tragic accident. Together, they discover the healing powers of nature, dedicated kindness, and disarming honesty. Cultural identity, mystery, and humor bring this family drama to life.

On her sixteenth birthday, Syn’s brother, Andy, gave her a secret gift: an ancestry DNA test. As he suspected, the results proved that she was not their father’s daughter and carried not an ounce of Asian blood. Though she had her mother’s Scottish heritage, her father was a mysterious Venezuelan. Was she the child of an unrevealed love affair? Since Syn consistently outperformed him scholastically, Andy uses the discovery to punish Syn, slyly teasing her about her unusual intelligence. In a desperate desire to protect her parents’ marriage, Syn hides her feelings and the test results.

After Rhona and her husband take Syn into their home, suspecting deeper wounds than the ones caused by the accident, they learn the truth about Syn’s parentage. Rhona confronts her sister, Nia, and the forthcoming revelations astound her. Supported by her husband, the revealed talents of townspeople haunted by their own shadowed pasts, and a sense of earthy humor, Rhona navigates turbulent family and community issues. The poem, Fly, Sparrow, Fly, guides Rhona as she helps her niece fly free from the painful misconceptions that have held her bound.

Acknowledging the truth is the first step to becoming free.

Relationships between friends and various family members can be complex at times, and Ms. Frailey did a good job of exploring both the best days these characters shared with each other as well as the worst ones when they struggled to understand each other’s perspectives. There was a nice balance here of wholesome moments and more serious disagreements between certain characters depending on which scene was currently unfolding, and sometimes both happened at almost the same moment!

I struggled with the slow pacing, especially as it pertained to how much time it took for Syn receive the results of her ancestry DNA test and realize that she wasn’t actually biologically relate to her father. While I appreciated the character development that happened along the way, my interest levels did begin to wane as more chapters went by without the main conflict coming into focus. It would have been helpful in my opinion to either have Syn discover this family secret much earlier on or for additional conflicts to be introduced early on to keep the characters busy until the big reveal.

There were some interesting plot twists later on that added extra layers of meaning to earlier scenes. They fit the themes well and made a great deal of sense based on what I’d already learned about the characters. Will other readers see them coming in advance? It’s hard to say, but I liked how naturally they flowed into each other and into the storyline in general.

OldTown Fly, Sparrow, Fly was thought provoking.

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

Let’s Fast Forward to the Good Stuff by GetChrissy

May 8, 2026 By Leave a Comment


Let’s Fast Forward to the Good Stuff by GetChrissy
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Young Adult (14 – 18 y.o.), Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Horror, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

No more waiting around. It’s time to fast forward to the good stuff!

Ross is the most impatient person you’ll ever meet. You don’t want to keep him waiting in line too long because things will get ugly, fast! He wants to zoom through life, and tired of all the waiting that comes along with it. He wants to speed things up a bit. One day, a weird woman leaves a mysterious package for him that will change his life forever. Ross is in for a magical journey which is powered by his thoughts, but soon things begin to take a bad turn. Ross is in for the craziest ride of his life that you don’t’ want to miss!

Excitement comes in many forms.

Ross was a fascinating main character whose flaws made me want to learn more about him even though I found his quick temper and impatience irritating. He had such a short-sighted view of the world that he was often blindsided by things a more rational and thoughtful person would probably be able to predict in advance at least occasionally. While I don’t know that I’d want to hang out with him in person until he’s matured a bit, he sure did make this tale a memorable one.

There were some plot holes involving the mysterious woman and the package she left for the protagonist that made it hard for me to follow the storyline at times. I had several questions about how her present worked and how she became aware of Ross’ existence that were never satisfactorily answered, especially given that the warning about what would happen if he overused it seemed to be brushed over in later chapters. As much as I enjoyed the playfulness of this story, these issues prevented me from choosing a higher rating.

I enjoyed discovering the wild scenarios Ms. GetChrissy came up with for her characters as they continued to play around with their newfound power and figure out what it could and couldn’t do for them. She had some imaginative and sometimes wonderfully frightening ideas about what this device could do and how someone who was impulsive might push the boundaries of how to use it while attempting to skip over all of the boring parts of his own life.

Let’s Fast Forward to the Good Stuff was creative.

Filed Under: Horror, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Bear Country by Mary Hallberg

May 6, 2026 By Leave a Comment


Bear Country by Mary Hallberg
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Horror, Romance, Action/Adventure, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Woman versus nature

Casey doesn’t want to go on the camping trip. She’s not a big outdoors person, and would rather stay inside with her paintings — and her air conditioning. But it’s her high school graduation trip, and her mom is making her go.

When one of Casey’s classmates disappears during the night, the teachers and park rangers assume she’s at the library and aren’t concerned. But Casey’s crush, Trevor, isn’t so sure and wants to go looking for her. A handful of others agree to join him — including Casey, despite her disdain for the woods.

But the trek turns deadly when the group encounters the reason their classmate went missing — an enormous, predatory grizzly bear, hellbent on destroying everything in its path. Now Casey and her classmates must find their way back to civilization without becoming bear food.

Never turn your back on nature.

There were some entertaining plot twists along the way as Casey and her classmates attempted to outrun and outwit their pursuer. Readers who are already familiar with this genre may be able to predict some of them ahead of time, but this wasn’t something that relied on the element of surprise in order to shock and frighten its audience. Instead, it was the journey from beginning to end that mattered with the plot twists providing the characters extra opportunities to learn from their most recent attempts at escape and try something different the next time they were attacked. I thought that was a good way to prolong what could have otherwise been a much shorter work.

The explanation for why the bear was so strong and aggressive was what held me back from giving this book a higher rating. While there were a few hints shared about its possible origins, they were not developed enough for its behavior to make sense to me. Knowing this information was critical in order to understand why a bear would suddenly begin attacking so many humans in a busy national park, especially given that none of the attacks were provoked or included usual reasons for an animal to behave this way such as a mother protecting her cubs.

With that being said, I loved the man (and woman) versus nature themes. Most of the characters knew little to nothing about camping, hiking, or coexisting with apex predators in the wild, and they did make a few mistakes early on that more seasoned campers would have avoided. The plot explored both the fear of the unknown and the anxiety some people feel when surrounded by nothing but trees and wildlife. These are themes that aren’t included in the horror genre as much as I’d prefer to see, so I was thrilled to find them here.

I should note that this was a pretty gory read, just as it should have been given the subject matter. Fans of that type of horror, take note!

Bear Country kept me perched on the edge of my seat from beginning to end.

Filed Under: Horror, Reviews, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

The Extraordinary Dreams of Cynthia Peabody by Lynne Marshall

April 29, 2026 By Leave a Comment


The Extraordinary Dreams of Cynthia Peabody by Lynne Marshall
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: LGBTQ, Paranormal, Contemporary
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Mysterious portals, inexplicable abilities, intergenerational friendship, and a reluctant hero who just might be off her trolley!

Cynthia Peabody can’t sleep. Recently widowed, her future seems a dreary blur. While practicing meditation techniques to fight insomnia, she discovers a mysterious portal in her backyard through which her dreams are shockingly realistic.

She runs to her neighbor for help after a dream about a dog leads to a real dog in her yard. The next-door teen offers to be the dog walker, and a surprising friendship develops. Juniper’s natural sincerity influences Cynthia to reevaluate her grumpiness.

While dealing with complicated grief along with her life turning toward the supernatural, Cynthia’s doctor’s report brings lousy news. What else can go wrong? She’s desperate for answers.

Pouring out her heart to her husband’s memory, she fears the only logical explanation is that she’s gone mad. But people in her hometown need help, especially a certain next-door teenager. Wishing she’d had someone looking out for her when she was young, Cynthia will do whatever it takes to protect the vulnerable, even if it means risking her life.

Perfection isn’t necessary so long as there’s genuine effort.

Cynthia’s complex personality and character development made me wish we could be neighbors. She was sweet and kind, but she also had a stubborn streak and a tendency to project her traumatic past onto others that kept me interested in how she might work on these flaws in the future. Knowing more about her past helped to explain the person she had become, metaphorical warts and all.

The magical realism was subtle enough to make this tale a little tricky to classify as far as genres go. This is something I always enjoy discovering in new author’s work due to how many different types of readers it can attract. I shared Cynthia’s opinion on why her dreams seemed to repeatedly come true in her waking life, but there was also plenty of space for other interpretations as well given how much nuance was included in the clues about what was happening to her.

I adored the found family and cross-generational aspects of the storyline as well. The protagonist built some incredible friendships as she mourned her husband, including some with people who were young enough to be her children or even grandchildren. Some of the funniest scenes were the ones exploring the social, technological, and pop culture differences between various generations as what is familiar and comforting to a 75-year-old woman will not always resonate with someone in their 40s, much less a teenager (and vice versa). These scenes were gentle and gave the characters so many opportunities to bond.

The Extraordinary Dreams of Cynthia Peabody was a beautiful and memorable story that I didn’t want to end. While I don’t know for sure if there’s a sequel in the works, I’d sure like to read it if one is ever published.

Filed Under: Other, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Artificial Elephant by Eric J. Hull

April 28, 2026 By Leave a Comment


The Artificial Elephant – stories of loss, magic, and hope by Eric J. Hull
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, LGBTQ, Horror, Paranormal, Romance, Holiday, Contemporary, Historical
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Character-driven literary speculative fiction for readers who crave haunting emotional payoffs.

A boy grieves the impossible beast that healed him. A house searching for its lost family. A vampire steals back her lovers’ tears. A scavenger hunt gone hilariously awry. Two lovers dancing at the end of the world.

Ghosts. Love. Winter. Hope. These 22 stories of fantasy, science fiction, and horror cast flickering light against the crowding darkness. They embrace the transformations between grief and love, kindness and bitter fate.

Sometimes the line between facts and feelings is paper thin.

In “Christmas Lights,” a smart house searched for its missing family for many years. I loved the fact that this was written from the perspective of a building instead of a human one. It was a unique way to frame the storyline and made me wonder if the house would ever find out what happened to the parents and two children who had once lived there. The twist ending was as poignant as it was logical for this universe as well.

Katie was a three-year-old girl whose body grew so impossibly cold she couldn’t eat anymore in “Katie Dreams” because any food or liquid she tried to consume froze solid when it was moved too close to her. I was nearly as fascinated by the scientific attempts to understand and reverse her condition as I was by her mother’s response. The strong emotional bond between them made this something I couldn’t possibly stop reading until I knew how it ended. In my opinion, memorable science fiction begins with the relationships characters have with each other before anything unusual occurs, and I would have happily read a full-length novel about Katie’s family and how they coped.

A teenager’s grief for his dead sister took on a new form in “Charcoal.” As he recalled a few of their shared childhood memories during his last few days at home, strange things began happening that were as bittersweet as they were inexplicable. This was a beautiful metaphor for how gut-wrenching it is to say goodbye to someone who died far too young in life, and the plot worked just as well on that level as it did when read from a paranormal perspective.

What ultimately convinced me to give this collection a five-star rating was the breadth of characters and experiences that were included here. I wish I had the space to mention all of them in my review as there were so many other gems to discover that included genres ranging from romance to horror. It takes talent to imagine such a wide variety of characters, all of whom remained distinct in my mind.

The Artificial Elephant – stories of loss, magic, and hope was exactly the sort of diverse speculative fiction I enjoy reading, and I can’t wait to see what Mr. Hull comes up with next.

Filed Under: Horror, Reviews, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Dead Ground by M.W. Craven

April 20, 2026 By Leave a Comment


Dead Ground by M.W. Craven
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Detective Sergeant Washington Poe is in court, fighting eviction from his beloved and isolated croft, when he is summoned to a backstreet brothel in Carlisle where a man has been beaten to death with a baseball bat. Poe is confused – he hunts serial killers and this appears to be a straightforward murder-by-pimp – but his attendance was requested personally, by the kind of people who prefer to remain in the shadows.

As Poe and the socially awkward programmer Tilly Bradshaw delve deeper into the case, they are faced with seemingly unanswerable questions: despite being heavily vetted for a high-profile job, why does nothing in the victim’s background check out? Why was a small ornament left at the murder scene – and why did someone on the investigation team steal it? And what is the connection to a flawlessly executed bank heist three years earlier, a heist where nothing was taken . . .

DS Washington Poe and analyst Tilly Bradshaw are in court, fighting his eviction from Poe’s beloved croft home. Before the verdict can be made, they are both whisked away in a flurry of secrecy to a brothel where a murder with important ramifications has occurred. Can Poe and Tilly work out the complexities of what’s happened without stepping on too many feet?

I have been greatly enjoying this series and absolutely loved this book. Poe and Tilly are both very different characters but I adore how well they work together and their skills mesh and compliment one another. I also particularly love how there is a great working and friendship chemistry between them – bot no hint of sexual tension or “more” which is rare in this sort of dynamic and I really love it.

There is a good cast of strong secondary characters that I also find enjoyable – but the plot and complexities revolving around the various moving parts here is where I really feel the author shines. I found it clear from the beginning that there were multiple layers to everything and watching both Poe and Tilly connect everything and unveil the next layer down was just a pleasure. Nothing came too easy for them but – equally important to my mind – nothing felt beyond reach or like there would need to be a bending of realistic to make something occur. I thought the plot and author walked a good line between complex but realistic.

Readers who enjoy mysteries and in particular British based police procedural style settings should absolutely enjoy this book. While I personally love them all and would happily start back at the beginning of the series I feel the plot and story is well encapsulated within this book and it’s not strictly necessary to have read any of the previous books – but why deny yourself? This is an exceptional series and one of my absolute current favourites, do yourself a favour and go back to the beginning and enjoy the full ride. Highly recommended.

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

Kiss Me at Sunset by Laura M. Baird

April 17, 2026 By Leave a Comment


Kiss Me at Sunset by Laura M. Baird
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Romance, Contemporary
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Michelle Bosak is finding her way again at age fifty after being widowed. She’s always had an adventurous side, but entering a wet t-shirt contest among twenty-somethings? It was meant to be harmless fun. She never factored in the instant attraction to the sexy mountain of a man acting as bouncer. And then to discover he’s a talented musician who makes her heart yearn again? Yeah, the night just got a lot more interesting.

Xander Phillips enjoys playing music with his band, helping his sister at her bar, and living life freely on his terms at age fifty-two. But one look at the hot little woman on stage has him all out-of-sorts. He can’t resist staring at her gorgeous body, touching her flawless skin, and finding a way to learn all there is to know about her.

When they go from get-to-know-you conversation to a night together that’s hotter than the Florida sun, will these seemingly opposites—who discover they have much in common—make room in their lives for more?

Everyone deserves to live happily ever after.

The chemistry between Michelle and Xander was sizzling. Given how quickly their romance heated up, the early scenes that explored the spark between them was essential in order to explain why they were both interested in moving fast with each other. Ms. Baird couldn’t have done a better job at setting up their mutual interest in the first scene and then allowing her characters to escalate their interactions from there.

I did find myself wishing that a bit more time had been spent exploring why these two protagonists would make a good longterm match. Yes, they were great in bed together and shared some common interests, including the conscious decision to remain childless by choice which is something I’d love to see more of in the romance genre, but it would have been nice to see an extra scene or two that discussed what they hoped to be doing five years in the future as well to see how compatible those dreams were. Had this been included, I would have happily gone for a full five-star rating.

This book was filled with funny, playful banter that made me chuckle. I especially enjoyed seeing how their friend groups merged together and what everyone thought of each other as there were some humorous moments included there, too. Everyone in their social circle was in a stage of life where they had the time and money to enjoy late evenings out which made their adventures even more amusing.

What a heartwarming read Kiss Me at Sunset was.

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , ,

Reclaim Your Mind – Seven Strategies to Enjoy Tech Mindfully by Jay Vidyarthi

April 16, 2026 By Leave a Comment


Reclaim Your Mind – Seven Strategies to Enjoy Tech Mindfully by Jay Vidyarthi
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Non-Fiction, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

You know the feeling. You put your phone down after who-knows-how-long and you feel worse than when you picked it up. You need boundaries, but that doesn’t mean you should feel guilty every time you scroll.

Reclaim Your Mind offers a middle way to “anyone who’s feeling guilty and helpless about their screen time” (Catherine Price, author of How to Break Up with Your Phone). It isn’t just another book telling you that your phone is ruining your brain. It’s a mindful, balanced approach that helps you enjoy tech on your terms.

Most people who write a book like this want you to use less of it. Jay Vidyarthi is one of the world’s leading designers of mindful technology. A lifelong meditator and tech lover, he weaves together “a tapestry of wisdom” (Dr. Richard J. Davidson, NYT bestselling author of The Emotional Life of Your Brain) based not only on mindfulness, but also a deep understanding of how tech is designed. You shouldn’t have to choose between inner peace and screen time, and neither should those you care about.

With relatable stories, short exercises in every chapter, and strategies backed by scientific research, Reclaim Your Mind is “a playful, wise, and practical guide” (Dr. Daniel J. Siegel, MD, NYT bestselling author of The Whole-Brain Child) to rekindling a positive relationship with TV, social media, games, news, email, and AI. You’ll learn to stand up for your freedom of attention and actually enjoy the convenience, connection, and joy that technology can offer — all without getting stuck on apps designed to exploit you.

Technology can be a double-edged sword.

Mindfulness is an incredibly useful habit to develop in many areas of life, and I liked the way it was described and explored here. I’d recommend having basic understanding of meditation and mindfulness before starting the first chapter for readers who know nothing about them. This did seem to be something that was written for an audience who was already aware of a few fundamental things about them such as drawing one’s attention back to the present moment after being distracted or how breathing patterns can affect these things. Other aspects of these topics were better described in later chapters and included some helpful tips and tricks along the way.

There were times when I thought this book wandered a little too far away from it’s original themes. For example, the author talked about technology as another form of nature which I found confusing. The section at the end on AI also felt out of character for the points that had been made earlier given the recent research that has come out on the negative mental health affects of using those sorts of chatbots for companionship or advice. Stronger development of these ideas would have made it easier for me to understand where Mr. Vidyarthi was coming from.

I appreciated the balanced approach the author otherwise took to the topic of how smartphones and apps should be used. There is nuance in these conversations, and not everyone will come to same conclusions about which apps to use and how to use them. His advice on taking note on how they make one feel and the inclusion of multiple exercises to explore one’s reactions to technology was helpful.

Reclaim Your Mind – Seven Strategies to Enjoy Tech Mindfully was thought provoking.

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

The Clinic by Jay Andrade-Hunt

April 13, 2026 By Leave a Comment


The Clinic by Jay Andrade-Hunt
Grimhold Vol. 1
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

After the Collapse, the world wasn’t rebuilt. It was scavenged.
Grimhold is a vertical city of rust, failing magic, and borrowed time. In its lowest districts, survival is negotiated through scraps, favours, and quiet threats.

Henry runs a back-alley clinic there. He treats anyone who makes it through the door, no questions asked. In a city carved up by gangs and syndicates, the Clinic survives by staying neutral.

That neutrality is beginning to crack. As tensions rise and the systems holding Grimhold together strain under pressure, the Clinic becomes a fault line where power, loyalty, and obligation collide.

A slow-burn, character-driven post-apocalyptic fantasy about endurance, moral compromise, and the quiet work of keeping people alive when stability is already gone.

Cooperation is underrated.

The world building in this novel was utterly fantastic and quite possibly the best example of how to do this I’ve read so far this year. Grimhold was a gritty, dangerous place where one wrong move could mean the difference between life and death. It was also a community filled with people working themselves to the bone on shoestring budgets to help others, often accomplishing things no one believed was possible along the way. These juxtapositions of kindness and unrelenting workloads not only helped to explain the sometimes rough demeanors of certain characters but also expressed the many different faces of this city.

There were times when I struggled with the slow pacing, especially in the beginning when more attention was paid to describing how Grimhold worked than the people who lived there or the conflicts they dealt with. Some patience is required for those chapters while everything is getting set up, but the payoff in the end was more than worth the wait. While I can’t go into much detail about how everything ended up fitting together later on for spoiler reasons, what I can say is that getting to know this world so well meant that later scenes became incredibly meaningful as the pacing picked up.

Some of the most memorable scenes in my opinion were the ones that explored the many ways someone can express platonic love for another person without the use of words. This may not sound like a theme one would necessarily expect in an urban fantasy novel, but it was woven into the plot seamlessly from beginning to end and added yet another layer of emotion and meaning to both the story as well as to the main characters’ lives. I adored these moments and hope there will more of them to come in the sequels.

Grimhold Vol. 1 – The Clinic was overflowing with both adventure and heartfelt emotions.

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , ,

Devil’s Gambit by Jade Rowe

April 9, 2026 By Leave a Comment


Devil’s Gambit by Jade Rowe
Publisher: Self-published
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Fern

My abusive husband lost me in a poker game.
Now I belong to the most dangerous man in New York.
And he only has one condition:

Give him two weeks.

Two weeks under the constant watch of his whisky-colored eyes.
Two weeks next to his perfect, tattoo-covered body. In his billion-dollar bed.

Two weeks to be treated like a queen. And dominated like his toy.

Two weeks. That’s all Dante Caruso demands. Then I can make my decision.
Leave this dark life behind and never look back. Or become his forever.

But there’s one secret he doesn’t mention. Something I could never have predicted.

He’d burn the world down to make me stay.
And I’ll yearn to melt in the fire.

Bella’s life is a series of being constantly on edge. When her abusive husband – whom her father sold her to in order to settle his debts – then puts her up as a last stake in a poker game, she finds herself sold on to another unknown, tattoo-covered mafia man. Dante demands very little, and insists at the end of the two week period Bella can make her own decision. Leave this dark life behind, or become his forever.

I have to admit this is my first foray into the dark mafia romance genre and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. While there are certainly dark themes in this book, and some of the action, fighting and bloodshed in certain key scenes is descriptive – I have to say this story wasn’t as dark as I was expecting. Yes, there is shooting and fights, mafia style scenes and posturing. There is also some violence against Bella in a few scenes – but there is nothing titillating or over-indulged to my mind. The violence is there and not shied away from, but it’s also not drawn out or dwelled on. So I feel this was a good balance between what I was expecting and not hiding it away, either.

This is also a fairly spicy book. I don’t feel this is as explicit (or as sex-heavy) as many erotica stories I have read. That said, it’s not a mafia story with a little romance. I definitely feel it rates a spicy level and not “mainstream romance” sort of heat level, but neither would I slot it in with the erotica genre or more sex-based-plot sort of books either.

I was particularly pleased that the plotline – the mafia fighting and posturing – was absolutely front and center though much of this story. Dante and Bella’s romance is equally prominent, but I feel the plot had about equal amounts of time and this gave the book a better foundation to my mind that had the author primarily focused on the romance between the two main characters. There was also a good number of strong secondary characters and I absolutely felt the next book was set up towards the end of this one – likely featuring Marco, Dante’s older brother and Grace. I’d absolutely be keen to follow on with that book.

Readers should also be aware that while I did find Dante’s character to be fairly straightforward, Bella’s character is quite complicated and might not be to everyone’s tastes. I found she really grew on me but Bella was not what I would think of as a traditional heroine. She is complicated and layered – and what I found brilliant (and slightly difficult) is that in many ways she’s just as morally grey as Dante. Bella is a survivor. She is intelligent and strong. These are brilliant things, but in the difficult mafia world she finds herself embedded in – that means making difficult decisions and not necessarily walking a pure and white path. I’m not sure this will appeal to more traditional romance readers and is likely why it comes more under the dark mafia genre heading – even though I, personally, didn’t find it as dark as I was expecting it to be. Readers who enjoy complicated plotlines and character journeys and growth should likely find this as engrossing as I did.

With a good balance between plot and spice, I found this to be an interesting story and a good “first try” of the dark mafia genre that seems to be everywhere lately. I enjoyed this book and will absolutely be looking at others this author has written. Recommended.

Filed Under: Other, Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , , ,
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