Susan

I loved this book. Full stop!

A Fate Inked in Blood pulled me in with a masterful blend of history and magic—though magic plays a pivotal role, it’s woven into the Viking Era with such restraint and authenticity that it feels like a seamless extension of reality, rather than myth. Jensen crafts a unique, immersive magical system with care, detail, and consistency, making this a world I could truly step into and inhabit.

Then there’s Bjorn. From the moment he emerges from the fjord, he steals every scene. He is the epitome of a Book Boyfriend—protective yet never overbearing, a true partner in Freya’s journey to becoming a Shield Maiden. Their dynamic is built on respect and equal footing, with Bjorn offering counsel rather than controlling her choices. He has her back, and she has his… until the shocking turn that sets the stage for Book Two’s cliffhanger ending.

Intense. Immersive. Unputdownable. A Fate Inked in Blood grabs you by the hand and pulls you deep into Freya’s world—and it won’t let go.

Haley has written such an impressive and empathetic book—her understanding of self-talk, vulnerability, and personal growth is unmatched. She doesn’t just ask you to reflect; she invites you to discover yourself. As she shares passages from her own journals, your confidence grows, and suddenly, you’re seeing life with fresh eyes—ready to embrace your dreams.

Review of Everything is Fine Here by Iryn Tushabe

Aine Kamara is on the brink of adulthood, preparing for her university exams—a time that should be filled with hope and ambition. But in modern Uganda, where shifting religious ideologies clash with personal identity, Aine is forced to question where she truly belongs.

The tension in her home is palpable. With her sister Mbabazi—an OBGYN and fertility specialist—returning from Canada with her secret girlfriend, Achen, Aine witnesses firsthand the painful divide between love and societal expectation. The conflict between mother and daughter fractures the family, leaving Aine feeling frightened, angry, and lost, unsure of which paths remain open to her.

After a pivotal life-altering event, Aine runs away, seeking refuge with Mbabazi in the city—where she discovers her own first stirrings of romance and passion. But as she navigates this unfamiliar world, she must ask herself: How far can she go in her quest for independence? What is permissible for her as a young college woman? Must she leave not just her home, but her country, to truly discover who she can be?

This novel transported me to Uganda, immersing me in landscapes, flavors, and traditions I had never experienced firsthand but felt deeply through Tushabe’s masterful storytelling. Her prose is vivid, powerful, and compelling, seamlessly balancing intimate struggles with broader cultural conversations.

I adored how this book grounded me in Aine’s world, while reminding me that I was, in many ways, a visitor—an observer to experiences that were both deeply specific and universally resonant. Through nuanced dialogue and cultural touchstones—like the Ekitaguriro, the cow dance—Tushabe created moments of pure cultural exchange, inviting me to not just read, but learn and engage.

And in those moments, I found myself thinking—just as Achen does—Why must someone abandon their home, so rich in heritage and joy, simply because of who they love?

Filled with complex, unforgettable characters and themes that linger long after the last page, this is the kind of novel that demands reflection. It’s not just a story; it’s an experience—one that would make a beautiful summer book club read, where conversations about identity, belonging, and freedom could unfold in all their depth.

I loved that Prose's writing style for Molly had a wonderfully quirky style that celebrated her individuality and uniqueness and her way of seeing the world. Exciting, original, inviting, and utterly delightful it was pure pleasure watching Molly grow and explore who she is and follow her developing her strength and confidence through this book. This books was the perfect way to wrap up the series, not only did we get to see a Happily Ever After Moment for Molly, but so many reunions and resolutions to the dramatic points that have been developing throughout the series. Questions about Gran's past with Molly and before have been resolved and all with the authors signature style and a humor as well as the deep emotional connection to the characters that moves these books from simple cozy style beach reading to a series I will long keep on my shelves. There are surprises and twists, as always, and good tugs on my heartstrings as in the story that is half told in Grans's voice about her past thought the secret diary and half from Molly who is solving the mystery that connects these two amazing women together forever.

This book was not just well written with amazing characters and vivid clear writing, but it made me stop reading and just think about so many things that I took for granted in my life. In following the life of LeMei and her daughter Lin in this multi-generational novel I saw not only life in China through the latter part of the 20th Century, but my own world in the US and Canada through new eyes. This is a story of women searching for their identity and selfhood dispute everything that was put in their way. LeMei faces growing up in 1960s Shanghai coming into conflict with limitations of her society. This leads her to cultivate in her daughter, Lin, a need to find freedom in the West, especially after the events she experiences in Tiananmen Square and to discount what China can offer. But this too has limitations for Lin, first in the US and then Canada, as she is seeing that what was sold to her via Western ads. This is a story of women seeking a Home that will allow them discover the Present and Future while celebrating the Past. This is a story of learning to have faith in oneself, to recognize the perils of immigration, of the mother daughter connection, and to that connection that we feel to our homeland. Touching on many heavy real life situations, this book is both intensely personal and wonderfully symbolic, bringing together the goddess who is The Immortal Woman, and a celebration of what makes us each an Immortal Woman in our own right.

This is a book that I will be keeping on my shelves and returning to.Thank you to @suchangwrites for this amazing book! To @houseofanansi and @tandemcollectiveglobal this #giftedbook

This was a delightfully engrossing read and one that once I feel into it I could not put down. This book has all the hallmarks that I long for in a Romantasy book and all done in an original way. Think of this combination Enemies to Lovers, Morally Grey MMC, Snark and Banter, Forced Proximity Possessive Lovers and did I mention Pirates, Fae, and Vikings? This is a unique story of a beautifully detailed world and lovers who do take that title seriously. The spice in this book is just right but it high and will leave you fanning yourself when the moment arises, all the tension and the banter between Livia and Erik truly was setting the stage for The Moment.

This is my first book by LJ Andrews and it will not be my last!

I was thrilled to receive Harry Bliss's graphic memoir You Can Never Die. This was a book that made me smile at the love, joy and wonder that Penny, the authors dog, brought too his life and I often found myself sitting back and reflecting on my own fur friends that have graced my life like Penny and Junior did his. But this book is more than just the story of Penny and Harry, although her presence in this book brings such life and wonder to both written text and cartoons, but this is also a journey of Harry becoming the person that he shares so humorously and honestly with the reader, a life that has had both bitter and sweet qualities. Bliss has a unique and insightful way of cutting right to the heart of life in these short, poignant, and insightful essays in the same way that his cartoons do. I have been clipping his work from The New Yorker's pages for years. With an eye for both the art of a moment, reproduced beautifully and in full color, he has an almost Zen like way of using brevity to make you reflect and consider an almost unstated argument. This book as a whole had me pondering the power of life to shape us and left me considering how we can also need to have a good laugh at ourselves, together this all reminds me that we have to grab life and live it -- for that is where we truly find the Love of Life.

This book is a beautiful marriage of art, argument, philosophy, and life story. Its is a celebration of the happy, the sad and all the messy chaotic fun that shows a life well lived and reflected on.

Thank you @celadonbooks for sharing this beautiful hardcover with me. This book spoke to me at such a deep level and I will admit I shed some sad tears at memories that are bittersweet, laughed at moments that were too adorable not to, and just enjoyed reading about the experiences, and people, that made Harry Bliss.

#newyorkercartoons #harrybliss #harryblisscartoon #bookmailisthebestmail #bookmailmonday #bookmail #bookphoto #memoir #graphicmemoir #doglover #dogart #petparent #petparents

Lyra Parish is an author who is known for exceeding my expectations in writing not only some of the wittiest banter, the most delightfully charged relationships, but packaging it all together with the most wicked sense of humor. But now she has added something new to her list of accomplishments: redefining my favorite trope, enemies to lovers, and creating my newest favorite microtrope - mortal enemies to soulmates. Billie and Asher are perfect sparing partners and they prove the saying that "Revenge is an act of passion".

The Billionaire Situation Series has been an amazing read from Book One, The Wife Situation, but The Boss Situation has set the bar even higher for the next book, but I know that Parish always reaches that mark and this book proves that she will not only meet that challenge by surpass it.

Phoebe has been passed over for a major promotion but when Fate, in the from of Foster Martin's Will, steps in to bequeath her the position of director of a museum In Serendipity Springs she jumps at the chance to turn her life. But she was never expecting her objective job of dealing with the historical past to be spun wound by the arrival of 60 year old mail in a magical time bending mailbox. Meeting Jay Martin, Foster's son, local historian and writer begins to connect her to the letters and the mystery of the romance Dear Heart and Smitten Kitten. This was a great slow burn romance that shared so many connections between the past and present. I loved that Jacobson used a handwriting font to reflect the time when the letters were written and the text bubbles for the texting between Phoebe and Jay. This book is filled with so much emotion and humor both which show how powerful love Is and the connection that it brings between people, not to mention how Love can endure no matter what stands in its way. If you are looking for a story that will draw you in with just the right amount of mystery and intrigue to keep you wondering about the ending, with all the sweet romance to remind you why romance is always and will always be a bestseller, then you don't want to miss this standalone romance!

I just finished Carina Taylor's new Clean out of Luck and can't stop smiling. This book had all the humor, banter, and originality that are the hallmarks of Carina Taylor's style. This is the first book in the Serendipity Series I have read and, if your like me, you may not know about this magic apartment building and its way of bringing love to its residents in the most unusual ways. And for Wade and Scarlet, this comes by way of a magic wish granting mop. Every chapter left me with something new to smile about. A complete standalone in an loosely interconnected series, this is a great introduction to the residents of Serendipity.

This is the perfect read when you feel that you alone and when life just feels like it is asking too much of you. For those when you feel like you are not seen or understood, John Kenney has written a book will remind you, this is Modern Life. I loved that the writing was vivid, the characters and the struggle at the heat of the book was real and so present that I often felt like I was watching a movie that had all the hallmarks of a great dark comedy. Filled with all the psychological awareness and sharp biting wit that makes a great satirical work, I See You've Called in Dead truly fits this moment in time. If you like a story always walks the razors edge between dark and light but still crave a true and unexpected laugh out loud moment., then this is a book you will enjoy. This is what made this such a strong book for me, Kenny's dark comic timing. Wonderfully absurd, insightfully comic, and delightfully incisive, this is a slow burn of a book that, like a great campfire needs time to establish itself before it can shines light into the night.

As I was reading I found myself thinking how this stands in the tradition of William Saroyan's The Human Comedy and Herman Melville's "Bartleby, The Scrivner" and how there is an eternal struggle to live and experience Life in the face of trying to live that life.

Thank you to NetGalley and Zibby Publishing for the arc that I read

This book is one of the best Bookish Surprises I have ever I received and, without a doubt, one of the most original books I have ever read. This book, and Tama, has lived in mind on so many levels since the first page! I mean how many books can you say are narrated by a magpie from the time it is hatched. Tama is a total scene stealer and he is everything that creates a wonderfully vivid and mythic character that is like the Trickster god Loki has taken form to live in New Zealand.

If that reminds you of the awe and wonder that you felt when you were younger reading Peter Rabbit or Charlotte's Web, then you know right where you I am coming from. However, just as all these stories have a deeper darker edge that you only saw in retrospect after growing up, then you are homing in on how I still feel after finish The Axeman's Carnival a while age.

This book is filled with emotion. There is such sadness and longing for family by every character in this book that you feel as if you are walking beside each of them in turn and, I am no sure hiw Chidgey did but but every farm yard animals is a living and breathing character, despite not being able to speak like Tama. This book will have you rooting for rain fall and grow them grass to eat. And, as much as there is a character here that I didn't want to feel for - no spoilers - Chidgey's story presents each one in a way that will break your heart in so many different ways because of their human-ness. But always at the heart of the story is Tama with his spoken words that draw you back and make you smile and laugh despite yourself and the circumstances that the characters find themselves in.

Tama's voice is one that cannot be replicated and one that will transport you to the New Zealand Highlands.

This is a real and achingly powerful book that will linger in you mind long after you close the book. Not only is this a beautifully written book, but it has been exquisitely translated from the original French by Hildegarde Serle. This book was a powerhouse of emotions that struck very close to home as a caregiver to my aging parents who has spend many hours in care homes and hospitals around the aged. The presence of the narrator throughout this book drew me into her story and showed, with such awareness of the value of life and the power of compassion and empathy, that life is to experienced in Life and In Storytelling. Told in a dual aspect style, Justine is trying to find her way through life as a 21 year old orphan who lives with her family and works in a care facility where she meets Helene, a 100 year old resident, and begins to follow the story of the older woman during the war. With the eye of a writer and her blue notebook to capture the stories she hears, Justine captures and shares with the reader Helene's story. This is a story told with all the bleakness and devastation of the war on the lives, bodies, and emotions of French, but it also shows the glimpses of love and hope and moments of joy that were found there as well.

To be honest, this book has left me thinking about the power of connection between us all and the need we have share our stories before they, like Helene, just fade away before our eyes almost without notice until we stop, ponder, seek out connection. With our individual story threads held fast in our own hands they are tenuous, precious, and isolated from support; however, once we bring those threads together and begin to plait and weave them together do those fragile threads become part of a collective, powerful and age defying story told via tapestry of our shared humanity. To remind us of what us good, rejoice in what is gifted. Mourn what is lost. And guide to reflect that all this IS what is to be human.

Haunting. Powerful. Compelling. Beautiful. Human. These are qualities of Perrin's story and Serle's translation that make this a book that will linger in my mind for a long time

Thank you Eeuropa Editions for an amazing international read that is a permanently on my shelves.

This book reached out to me despite the generational and cultural gap that exists between me & Huda. This is a book that will help so many be seen. Huda's relationship with her family, religion, culture, & even herself is all part of the insightful and, for me, educational blend that turns a simple growing up story into a humorous learning tale that bridges so may divides. Huda is the imperfect, typical, & totally identifiable teen whose whole life at first is all about her and achieving the hallmarks of growing up, but when her parents throw a curveball into this world by sharing that they are divorcing, everything is suddenly in question as Huda needs to figure out what is happening and make sense of how she is responding to those changes. Now, along with all typical teen angst, she is questioning and feeling the added pressure of what will my life look like when ___

This is a perfect gift for anyone at any age, showing how we are all similar in our feelings and experiences even if we express them differently. A wonderful conversation starter to highlight an appreciation for others & one that highlights teen Mental Health & Wellness!

This is a real book about real women living real lives in the face of everything that life throws at them. Carolyn, Ava, and Jasmine are three of the most unexpected friends that Fate finds a way of connecting when they each need the others support. I love that what brings these women together is not just a need to have someone be their advocate or offer them a path to success, but that they are there to listen to each other and become a true sister and found family accepting each other without any expectations.

This was a book that will get inside you. The author has clearly taken the time to carefully develop all her characters and infuse them with motivation that makes you feel their longing, fear, excitement, and apprehension that makes these character human. For me, that's one of the key reasons I read fiction, to get me out of my head and into someone elses, to experience someone's life that I wouldn't otherwise have access to, and make me wonder as I read how all will work out knowing that it just might not. If you enjoy women's fiction and what I call Life Stories where, you don't know how the story will shake out until just before its over you have a great choice here!

This book has enthralled me since about page ten and constantly left wondering how the story would play out for not just one couple in this book...but all of them. Told with one of the most powerful third person omniscient narrators I have read in a long time, the narrator takes on a voice and role that became a fully developed character in my mind. I literally mean every character spoke to me with their own voice. With character motivations as real as the lives they each led, this is not a book for the faint of heart. This book holds up a mirror to life today and reflects it back to you in a way that shows life with all its fears & insecurities, bitter & sweet moments, as well as joys & sorrows. It is a life that leaves you with wrinkles, scabs, and scars but leaves you knowing that with love and friendship you will always shine in the end.

This was just the fun and joyous breath of fresh air I needed right now. Georgia and Eli's second chance romance reminded me of all the reasons love is worth fighting for and how special and precious that connection can be! Love is something that will always find its way back to you, and this book will have you look over at your person and go, "Yea, it is worth fighting to keep this feeling.

What a wonderful step back in time to a place I inhabited as a young woman. Caprice owned these pages and with a voice and writing style that truly spoke to my inner teen and she drew me into her world in all its emotional chaos and family dynamics and held me close. I feel as if I have made a new friend and shared her world experiences, however there is a wonderful quality to youth that allows the young to stand tall in the face of adversity and grow stronger still because of it. Caprice reminds me of a seed from a giant redwood, her full strength would not be realized and the power of her spiritual breath would not be seen if not for the fire that allowed her sprout and claim her place.

As a an older reader, I was impressed with Youngdahl's writing and her ability to share Caprice's story in a way that make me feel as if I was teen again. But I am not the target audience, no matter how much I saw myself reflected here. Stepping back and thinking to what I longed to read as a teen and reflecting on what I hear teens commenting on around me, I can see this story being one that truly reflects the reality that this generation isexperiencing. This book would be a great summer read for anyone, but I truly feel this is a book teens need in this moment when resiliency, love, compassion, and endurance are the mixed up hallmarks of their generation. Caprice's story is one that will allow many to process the confusing mix of feelings that is life in the 21st Century.

If you are looking for a book that fits this author's stated vibe : "This series is my love letter to every reader who said they wanted to move to a fictional town." Than have I found the book you have been looking for to spend the upcoming weekend in...and yea I do mean lost in what I am hoping is the new Lucy Score Series of Story Lake, Pennsylvania.

This book had it all & oh so much more! This is a new series about a trio of brothers who are helping to save their small town and family construction business who just might find love along the way if the stop getting in their own way. There's the grumpy one, the one secretive one, and then one that is just a flirt. There are pet racoons, bald eagles, and a pig who each take turns stealing scenes when the family dogs are not already doing so. There's a town busybody who will leave you laughing and the twin pest that has their ow secret adgenda. There are nieces and nephews, a teen town mayor, a persnikity town council woman, nosey town reporters, a roving acapella group, all of that inside the town that -- if you don't run over the town welcome sign -- you will eventually fit in with.

If you laugh when you hear titles like Diane Keaton's Baby Boom, Chevy Chase's Funny Farm, and even Cary Grant's Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, then this book will be a welcome fit for you. But now add to that not one or two but three super hot contractors, a romance novelist writing her way out of the worst case of ex husband induced writer's block, one of the best adorable best friends ever, and town in need to a come back and you have the rest of an award winning recipe for a runaway best seller.

This 5 🌟 3🌶 book is filled from page one to finish with screwball comedy gold, banter that you will re-read just because its so good, MMC narration that has you laughing and wincing at the same time, and an FMC that you will just shout You Go Girl sometimes out loud to an empty room because YES, this book is that good that sometimes you forget these are people on a page and not ones you know in real life.

This is my first Lucy Score novel and it will not be my last!

I enjoyed this view into a retirement community and seeing the dynamics at play as this group of retirees continue to lead their lives. The characterizations and dialogue keep me reading page after page and I loved the subtle humor at play between all these individuals. But this book is not just about the daily lives, loves, and adventures of Birdy and her core group, there is a mystery that haunts her as well..what happened to her 'friend' Allison who took her own life over 50 years ago. Was her death what she was told, or is here is a killer lurking in the shadows that needs to be discovered and a murder that must be answered for?

This book has a slow start, but this was necessary for this book to truly reach me as a reader and allowed me to fall into this book and understand the characters. Everything needs to be established, questions, relationships, and even the readers own uncertainties to ensure that this book draws the reader in and, in my case, captivated me. Once I was about a third of the way into the book I couldn't put this mystery down.

This was one of my most expected releases of 2025 and after a year of fan fic writing in my head I can say that Charlotte Mallory has completely exceeded my expectations for this conclusion to her duology. Jane and Soren's story was simply amazing. So many twists and turns that only Mallory could include that kept me on the edge of my seat. I know my reviews are usually longer, but I'm still recovering from this book of curses, waring gods, hidden powers and powerful lovers who will fight anything to be together...even each other. I have to process what I can share so I don't spoil your experience of reading this book. I mean..just check out that quote from Soren and let me know he is not The Most Epic Book Boyfriend EVER!

Simply put: This book blew me away!

I was surprised at the power and sweetness of this darkly romantic fantasy. I have been reading some darker stories lately and there is a line where the trend toward violence and open door scenes seems to get in the way of the story. It feels more like I’m on the verge of the horror genre. With that said, I know the addition of “sweet” to this review may seem like an odd descriptor, and if you look at the cover you know the dark should be the defining characteristic. But, that razor thin line where you can’t quite tell if you are reading the reality of Jane and Soren, Jane’s wishes, or Soren’s manipulation is what is so thrilling in this book. And this is reflected in the balance between the sensual and almost sweet side of romance and the physical.

This is a pair that many would argue will create a wall between them and the reader. I mean Soren is a Zenith - read mercenary ‘warlord’ with the power and personality of a mafia don - who basically kidnaps and then manipulates Jane into going with him to protect her best friend, Kathleen, and the refugees from her burned out village. His mission: deliver Jane back to the Zenith Council to discover who she is and what she knows…about what? Even Soren has no clue, but Jane’s capture fits his own agenda. Soren is the consummate Alphahole, but there is something that he sees in Jane that sparks his curiosity and that sets him down the path to discover her secrets on his own. Jane herself is not anyone’s maiden in distress. She may go into a situation wondering if she is coming out in one piece, but she knows that neither will you… and that’s the important thing to her. When we meet Jane in Chapter One she is in the heart of a Tavern Brawl and is breaking noses and delivering the best snarky banter with a tongue as sharp, and wit as bright, as a newly honed knife. She is as wild and dangerous as Soren and gives every bit as good as she gets. Escape attempts…check. Enthrallment…check. Physical attacks…check. Sass, snark, and banter…check, check, and check plus. Oh, and did you want a tragic past? Not one BUT TWO SUPER CHECKS!

However, in addition to the two main characters, The Secrets of Jane also brings the author’s keen eye for detail and character development to everyone in the book. Kathleen, Jane’s best friend is so vivid in my mind that I can see and hear her anytime her name is mentioned. Bones and Anya, Soren’s seconds in command, I can actually see them as well, one playing with their necklace while the other sits as a broody guard over Jane -- but I’ll not tell you who is who for that is part of the fun of this book. And Phantom, Soren’s horse, he’s pawing the ground and nickering for your attention too. The Noirs, the other Zeniths, the pirates, the tavern keep, all are living, breathing and fully voiced characters too.

So, why read this book even if you're not into Romantasy? This book has court-intrigue, mythology, a band-of-brothers & sisters feel, witches, pirates, fighting pits, missing parents and families, secret agendas, and magic. Not enough, well this also has the author’s wonderful ability to invert all your expectations and call into question all your assumptions. She leaves you with hints and traces of an idea and a trail of clues that will leave you untangling statements and trying to read into people's actions as you try to solve mysteries within mysteries, as well as plots and plans. All of this together will draw you deeper into this impressive and original story and catch feelings for all the living characters. And the ending, gahhhh… the ending will leave you holding your breath because … you … just … want … to … know … more.

I would sign up for this series if it was ten books, and I'd follow Soren and Jane across the Black Sea to find out Jane’s Secrets because I don’t want to leave this world

Written with a powerful voice and telling the story of characters that stand as real people with humor, passion, drive this is a great beginning to a career I will be watching. Gwen's story had me holding my breath to see what destiny, fate, and the author have in story for her. A princess who ascends to her father's throne unexpectedly, she must face all the normal challenges for a young monarch but add to that she is underestimated by so many who seek to unseat her from her shaky throne. Yet, it is her secret childhood love of The High Captain, Tyreal that presents her with that one consistent voice of support and the spark that ignites a passion that will leave you nodding, smiling, and sighing. Although living lives appropriate to their stations, this pair has always shared a bond that will be tested and teased as they journey to the Misty Mountains to discover an ancient secret. While Gwen must learn to be a queen, Tyreal also has a destiny...though he may discover more than he desires...because first he must acknowledge what it is he truly wants.