Mr. Bingley: Just As A Gentlemen Ought To Be by Brandon Dragan
I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.
Synopsis: “Finally, a novel that reveals the true Bingley! Heartily recommend to all Bingley-philes!” — Crispin Bonham-Carter, Mr. Bingley in the BBC Miniseries, Pride & Prejudice
For centuries Jane Austen’s classic novel, Pride and Prejudice, has been dearly loved he world over. However, few people know the hidden truth about Mr. Darcy’s closest friend, the affable Mr. Bingley—who is much more than he appears on first impression.
Mr. Bingley: Just as a Gentleman Ought to Be is the previously untold story of a young man who unwittingly uncovers an evil cabal among the British Empire’s aristocracy. Bingley finds himself confronting an enterprise so nefarious, he cannot help but act to redress it, even if it costs him his own reputation and the love of his life, the angelic Miss Jane Bennet.
Follow Mr. Bingley down a rabbit hole of intrigue and corruption, as he fights to protect the country’s most vulnerable alongside friends old and new. Can he set things right before he loses Jane forever?
Summary: Overall, I really enjoyed this book and thought it was a creative and unique twist to the familiar Pride and Prejudice world. I would recommend to anyone who is a P&P fan who wants a new take on a familiar character, and even those who are less familiar with P&P but love literature set in the 19th century that feature action, mystery, comradery, and a touch of romance.
See the full review here: Mr. Bingley: Just As A Gentleman Ought To Be
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Her Dark Promises by E.H. Raven
I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.
Synopsis: Stuck in a dead-end job and unable to afford independence, Jamila’s dreams of success fade daily. Desperate, she agrees to an arranged marriage orchestrated by her father, but it backfires, deepening her depression.
She finds solace in horror movies about demonic possession, leading her to research real-life cases. Discovering some achieve success through dark means, she decides to summon her demon, hoping to change her fate. Possession grants Jamila immense confidence and success, but the dark alliance exacts a steep price.
The demon consumes her sanity, blurring reality and nightmare.
Can Jamila escape the darkness she unleashed?
Summary: Overall, while this was my first book from Raven, I am confident that it won’t be my last. This was the perfect blend of creepy, thrilling, and addicting and I would recommend to anyone who is a fan of horror and psychological thrillers.
See the full review here: Her Dark Promises
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The Ultimate Baby Boomer Word Search by Hazel Woods
I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.
Synopsis: Step back in time for a classic experience with “The Ultimate Baby Boomer Word Search Large Print.” This nostalgic large-print word search book features amusing historical facts and timeless fashion trends, sure to bring back cherished childhood memories. Your Time Machine is Ready to Go!
Summary: Overall, this is a fun word search puzzle book full of nostalgic and interesting facts from the 1940s-1980s. While this would probably be more appreciated by the baby boomer generation, I think it can be enjoyed by anyone who enjoys word searches.
See the full review here: The Ultimate Baby Boomer Word Search
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Focused on Love by Melody Carson
I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.
Synopsis: Rodeo nights and a city girl who’s all trouble. I must protect this damsel at all costs.
I’m Shane, a lonely cowboy and billionaire bronc rider with a memory I can’t shake.
Then enters Zoey, a sexy city fashion photographer, stirring up dust in my private world.
Sparks fly as we’re instantly drawn to each other.
But, then Zoey unknowingly captures a kidnapping on film
and our attraction takes a very dangerous turn.
I must protect her from the shadows as we unravel an unspeakable
crime that threatens everything.
I’m not only wrestling with broncs,
but I’m protecting the only woman who’s ever stolen my heart.
Together, we’ll face the evil in this small-town mystery that threatens to tear us apart.
This rodeo holds more than bronc riding –
it may just be the place where two hearts find their way home.
But, first, we must outsmart the danger and find our love amidst the chaos.
Summary: Overall, if you like contemporary romances featuring cowboys, small town love, action, suspense, intrigue, and of course romance, then this book could be for you.
See the full review here: Focused on Love
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Lost Grove: Part One by Charlotte Zang and Alex J. Knudsen
I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.
Synopsis: For fans of Twin Peaks and Stranger Things, Lost Grove is the first in a paranormal mystery duology that explores the twisted legends and mysteries in one small town.
In the eerie, enigmatic town of Lost Grove, where secrets whispered among the rustling pines are as thick as the fog rolling in from the sea, the discovery of Sarah Elizabeth Grahams’ lifeless body on the windswept beach is but the first note in a haunting symphony of mysteries.
Sergeant Seth Wolfe, the town’s tenacious lawman, penetrates the cryptic and labyrinthine secrets veiled beneath the town’s cheerful facade. A connection to Sarah Elizabeth, one he could never have fathomed, begins to take shape, blurring the lines between his own existence and the mysteries that enshroud the town. Suspects multiply like whispers in a haunted forest, but each lead unravels, and the mysteries of the case deepen.
Meanwhile, a group of local teenagers embark on their own harrowing mission, driven by a relentless desire to answer the riddle of their friend’s vanished brother and expose the sinister secrets harbored by an affluent institute nestled in the heart of Lost Grove. Further complicating matters, one teen’s father left town the morning Sarah Elizabeth’s body was found. With ties to a similar case seven years prior, he has become a prime suspect in the case.
As Seth dives deeper into the abyss of darkness gripping Lost Grove, an unsettling discovery threatens to derail his investigation and shatter the illusions of safety the town has harbored for far too long. A chilling web of malevolence begins to tighten its grip, ensnaring them all in a nightmarish dance that will test the limits of their resolve.
Readers who love the eerie, unsettling mystery of Stephen King’s The Outsider and the monstrous legends of Brian McGreevy’s Hemlock Grove will enjoy this twisty, taut thriller.
Summary: Full of horror elements, suspense, the paranormal, mystery, and much more, Lost Grove leaves no rock unturned while taking readers on an addicting dark and thrilling journey that will have them turning page after page desperate answers. If you’re a fan of Twin Peaks, and want to read something similar with a bit more of the supernatural and paranormal, then this book could be for you.
See the full review here: Lost Grove: Part One
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Cosmic American Rhapsody by Ray Sweatman
I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.
Synopsis: Get ready for a wild ride as country-rock pioneer, Gram Parsons, struggles to survive, both physically and spiritually at the Lost Highway Motel. As his life flashes before him, several colorful characters try to help him find the meaning of life such as the ghosts of his parents, a strange policeman, a transcendentalist, and the animated animals from “Hee Haw.” With rich allusions to both popular and classical culture, it is at turns hilarious, poetic, tragic, and thought-provoking.
Summary: Overall. I can say this was an entirely unique biographical fiction and unlike anything I have read before. If you are interested in Gram Parsons, colorfully artistic writing, and/or biographical fictions, then this book could be for you. You can check out the book trailer here!
See the full review here: Cosmic American Rhapsody
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We Meet Again: Book One by Brownell Landrum
I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.
Synopsis: Separated by centuries… Reunited to change the world
Have you ever wondered if you met someone… before?
When she meets the Artist, his first words to her are, “We Meet Again.” Yet they hadn’t met before.
Or had they?
Brownell Landrum’s celebrated We Meet Again trilogy is an epic reincarnation mystery + love story about a famous couple from history reunited today to fulfill a prophecy that will change the world.
But is the world ready to change?
Follow the clues tracing back centuries, even millennia through this remarkable story of love, fate, and destiny against a backdrop of lifetimes from present day to 1930s Brazil, 1500s Renaissance Europe, the Middle Ages, and even ancient Greece.
In Book One, meet Marielle and Dante, a modern-day couple navigating a new relationship while re-living a previous lifetime as a nun and a priest in 1930s Brazil protecting a valuable artifact from a nefarious organization still on the hunt today.
Summary: Overall, this was an interesting reincarnation love story full of history, romance, and adventure. Part one of a trilogy, I am excited to see where Landrum takes the rest of this series. If you like romance, especially historical romances, adventure, mystery, suspense, and metaphysical fiction, then this book could be for you.
See the full review here: We Meet Again: Book One
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Watercolors and Tears by José Orlando Castañeda
I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.
Synopsis: Manuel, a young Ecuadorian, sells medicinal herbs in the market and paints watercolors in his spare time. In search of a better life, he emigrates to Port Chester (New York). Elvira, his wife, intends to join him by sea, but she is shipwrecked. Her plans change after her rescue, and she ends up in Madrid, where she is employed as a nanny. Antonio, the father of the children in her care, discovers her secretly reading a novel from his antique books collection. He slyly labels a passage with a strip of paper, intending for her to read it. Intrigued, Elvira responds by indicating her own phrases in the book. That’s the beginning of an innocent exchange of literary quotes through which love quietly slips in. While Manuel takes refuge in his paintings and herbal remedies on the other side of the world, Elvira finds herself falling for Antonio. When her hopes are dashed through a casual blunder, she seeks to regain her marital home and travels to Port Chester to be with her husband. Confronted by an unexpected tragedy, she discovers the watercolors that Manuel has painted in his solitude. His brushstrokes cut deep into her heart.
Summary: Overall, this was a very beautiful and elegant story about the complexities of life that tackled very real topics surrounding the realities of emigration in the pursuit of a better life for you and your family. Full of rich descriptions, love, loss, sacrifice, tenacity, and family, this book could be for anyone who is interested in the deeply honest portrayal of what it means to be human in this world.
See the full review here: Watercolors and Tears
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The Clock and the Candles by Anthony Dean
I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.
Synopsis: Roland, the Keeper of the Clock, and Gwen, the former crown princess of the Lands, are separated by 46 feet of stone. After seizing the throne from her father, King Adolphus had the Prison Maximus constructed around Gwen. She lives in a cell with no door that measures eight feet on every side, and which is centered in a structure that measures a hundred feet on every side.
One day in the seventh year of Gwen’s imprisonment, Roland returns home from his duties tending the Ebony Clock to find that someone has entered his cabin and left an unsigned letter on his table. The letter reads:
Dear Roland,
Consider five statements. Three of them are true. Two of them are lies.
1. You are the last of your kind.
2. King Adolphus is an immortal being.
3. The creatures who walk the Lands after sunset serve no master.
4. Gwen’s prison was not constructed according to specifications.
5. The Ebony Clock is not connected to anything at all.
Sort the truth from the lies, and you will be free.
With the help of allies that come to include an old friend, an elderly chemist, two disgruntled members of Adolphus’ guard, and an elf, Roland tries to make use of the new information in the beginning of a new epic from Anthony Dean, author of the Voided Man series.
Summary: Overall, this was a refreshing and original plot, as all of Dean’s seem to be. He took some classic fantasy themes and made them uniquely his own for this story which I really enjoyed. Only book one in this new series, this book ends on a bit of a cliffhanger and I am excited to see where Dean takes it next. If you like fantasy, mystery, action, and adventure, then this book could be for you.
See the full review here: The Clock and the Candles
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