{"id":4650,"date":"2025-11-01T01:42:40","date_gmt":"2025-11-01T01:42:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=4650"},"modified":"2025-11-01T01:42:40","modified_gmt":"2025-11-01T01:42:40","slug":"monthly-features-october-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=4650","title":{"rendered":"Monthly Features \u2013 October 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Hummingbird Moonrise by Sherri L. Dodd<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.<\/p>\n

Synopsis: <\/strong>The past two years have taken their toll on Arista Kelly. Once an eternal optimist, now she has faced the darkness and must recalibrate what true happiness means for her. Meanwhile, Shane, her ex-boyfriend, is pulling all the right moves to help keep her sane from her heightening paranoia. But it doesn\u2019t help that Iris, her Great Aunt Bethie\u2019s friend, has disappeared.<\/p>\n

Still, one additional trial remains. While searching for Iris, Bethie and Arista stumble upon a grand revelation in the eccentric woman\u2019s home. With the discovery, they realize their run of chaos and loss of kin may have roots in a curse that dates back to the 1940s\u2014the time when their family patriarch first built Arista\u2019s cottage in the redwoods and crafted his insightful Ouija table.<\/p>\n

This pursuit will not follow their accustomed recipe of adrenalized action, but the high stakes remain. Will the mysterious slow burn of unfolding events finally level Arista\u2019s entire world or be fully extinguished, once and for all?<\/p>\n

Summary: <\/strong>Overall,\u00a0Hummingbird Moonrise<\/em>\u00a0is a paranormal mystery that works because it never loses its human touch. Yes, there are curses, possessions, and supernatural forces, but there\u2019s also cinnamon bread, inside jokes, and the kind of family loyalty that keeps people moving forward even when the odds feel impossible. What I admired most is the way Dodd lets the suspense simmer without sacrificing warmth. The book left me both unsettled and comforted\u2014a rare combination that lingers long after the last page<\/p>\n

See the full review here: Hummingbird Moonrise<\/em><\/a>
Purchase here<\/a><\/p>\n

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Unborn by Eva Barber<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.<\/p>\n

Synopsis: <\/strong>Olesya was not born like other people but was found in the Siberian Forest by a couple unable to have children. Plagued by mysterious visions and dreams, she struggles to fit into a society both as a socially inept but brilliant child and as she becomes part of a research team to discover the nature of dark matter. The findings of this discovery never make it to the scientific community as the project leader goes missing and the physics lab blows up, destroyed by a powerful foe with seemingly noble intentions.<\/p>\n

Seattle detectives question Olesya in connection with the explosion and the disappearance of her boss. She becomes a person of interest until she herself goes missing. From her kidnappers, she learns that her parents, knowing she lacked a belly button, suspected she was created by the Russian government as part of a scientific experiment, and emigrated to the USA to hide and protect her. She also learns she possesses powers related to dark matter and of the existence of a brother held captive since his discovery by the Russian government. Even though she suspects her kidnappers\u2019 interest in her and their motivations aren\u2019t so noble, she joins them in rescuing her brother. Catastrophic world events following the successful rescue force her to continue working with her foes to save the world from destruction.<\/p>\n

While working to save the world, Olesya experiences a moral dilemma and becomes someone she never thought she\u2019d be\u2014a mother. Olesya learns of mysterious chambers scattered around the world, and her visions return to haunt her, until she opens the chambers and learns their secrets, wishing she hadn\u2019t. Now she faces the heart-wrenching realization that she must travel into a dark dimension to save the world from self-destruction. Worse yet, her daughter, Emery, is the key to humanity\u2019s salvation and must follow her mother once she becomes an adult because she is the only being who can travel where no one else can to restore balance to the universe and return with an extraordinary gift for humanity. But powerful entities have reasons to keep the gift away from humanity and will do anything to stop her.<\/p>\n

Summary: <\/strong>Overall,\u00a0Unborn<\/em>\u00a0is a haunting, beautiful story about science, motherhood, and the unknowable threads that connect us. It\u2019s the kind of book that lingers quietly after you\u2019ve finished it \u2014 the kind that leaves you wondering whether what you just read was speculative fiction or something closer to a modern myth.<\/p>\n

If you like stories that mix atmosphere and emotion \u2014 think\u00a0The Time Traveler\u2019s Wife<\/em>,\u00a0Never Let Me Go<\/em>, or\u00a0The Daughter of Doctor Moreau<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 you\u2019ll find something to love here. It\u2019s for readers who enjoy a story that makes you think and feel at the same time; readers who don\u2019t mind when mystery lingers even after the answers come.\u00a0<\/p>\n

See the full review here: Unborn<\/em><\/a>
Purchase here<\/a><\/p>\n

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Smoke on the Wind by Syvila Weatherford<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.<\/p>\n

Synopsis: <\/strong>\u201cSmoke on the Wind\u201d\u00a0<\/span>is a captivating tale that weaves the perils and dangers encountered on the Western frontier by Will Lawton, a young Black cowboy, after kidnapping then wedding his young Native American bride, Niabi. He plods a path packed with uncertainty that ultimately winds its way to an unthinkable opportunity \u2013 a race for free land.<\/p>\n

Follow the characters of Smoke: the beautiful Louisa Ortega, who haunts the memory of the Chief\u2019s son, Nashoba; Captain Horton, head of Fort Townsend, charged with keeping peace between settlers and tribes, and Dakota Sam, a rambunctious Civil War veteran attached to his military blues and backwoodsman ways.<\/p>\n

This is the second book in an epic series, following the success of Weatherford\u2019s first novel,\u00a0\u201cBlessings from the Four Winds.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In this sequel, new characters are introduced: Liao Ming Chow, a Chinese immigrant, Sargent Thomas of the Buffalo Soldiers, and Mr. Todd Morgan the railroad tycoon. Niabi and Will raise two children and enjoy the protective company of their horses: Rodeo and FireTip. Their journey is marked by resilience, the spirit of community, and the ongoing struggle for safety and belonging.<\/p>\n

Summary: <\/strong>Overall,\u00a0Smoke on the Wind<\/em>\u00a0is a vivid continuation of America\u2019s untold stories \u2014 where race, heritage, and faith collide. It\u2019s tender and unflinching, full of voices that feel like they\u2019ve been waiting a century to be heard. Weatherford writes history the way it deserves to be written: not as distant fact, but as living memory. For readers who are drawn to immersive, historical fiction.<\/p>\n

See the full review here: Smoke on the Wind<\/em><\/a>
Purchase here<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hummingbird Moonrise by Sherri L. Dodd I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion. Synopsis: The past two years have taken their toll on Arista Kelly. Once an eternal optimist, now she has faced the darkness and must recalibrate what true happiness means for her. Meanwhile, Shane, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":4651,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bookreviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4650"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4650"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4650\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}