Lisa Henson

Susannah Mobley is the pampered daughter of a wealthy Natchitoches planter. She plays the harp and attends private school in New Orleans. She grew up with slave children as playmates, teaching them to read and write as they played at school, not seeing any difference between herself and them. And she has made the grievous mistake of falling in love with one of her father’s slaves, and he with her. In pre-Civil War era Louisiana, this could have disastrous consequences for both parties and for any children that might result. A child indeed results here when Susannah and Philippe can’t fight their growing attraction for each other any longer.

Her father arranges for Susannah to marry Hezekiah James, who is heading for Texas with big dreams and looking for a wife to share them with. Susannah is appalled at the prospect of marrying someone she doesn’t know, and thinks she can get the whole thing called off when she tells him she is pregnant with a slave’s child. But Hezekiah is determined to forge ahead, and they leave the polite society of Natchitoches behind to carve a path and claim land in the wilderness that was Texas before it was even a republic.

Myra Hargrave McIlvain was inspired to write this story by a discovery in her own family history. She has clearly done her research, and she gives us a story that digs deep into some difficult territory and calls forth powerful emotions. As a Louisiana native, I’m aware of our state’s history with slavery, of the treatment of Black slaves, of the penalties that could be handed out for having a romantic entanglement that crossed racial lines. Reading the part of the story leading up to Susannah’s pregnancy being revealed had me in knots for fear of how strongly her father might react.

The story also deals with the institution of slavery and the treatment of slaves on a larger level. Susannah’s mother tells her that Blacks and Indians don’t love the same as white people, but Susannah knows from her own experience that that simply isn’t true. Susannah’s father owns slaves and treats them well so long as it benefits him to do so. If they step out of line, he shows no compunction about responding swiftly and harshly. Hezekiah owns slaves, but treats them with respect and dignity, causing some consternation among people who don’t share his views. But can even the kindest treatment make it agreeable to a man that all the steps he takes are under another person’s ultimate control?

Susannah lied abut the circumstances that led to her pregnancy, and as tends to happen, the truth eventually came to light. There were consequences to her lies, and they created distance between Susannah and Hezekiah. It was clear early on that he wanted a genuine marriage for the two of them, but Susannah’s inability to be open and honest about her past made that difficult. They were both good people, and I really wanted to see both of them rip the band-aid off, talk it all out, and get things straight so they could move forward together.

It’s clear from the description that the journey to settle in Texas wasn’t for the faint of heart. Sometimes life happened, and you had to choose between giving up or finding the courage to keep going. I really enjoyed the bits of Texas history woven into the story, as well as descriptions of all the effort that had to go into just surviving on the frontier, let alone thriving. Susannah, protected young woman that she was, had some hard adjustments to living on the trail and being responsible for her own household. She had a lot to learn, and the description of her trying to milk a cow made me chuckle. I figure I would have about the same success she first did were I to try it myself!

I don’t want to give away anything, so I’ll stop here. The story is so wonderfully written, I want y’all to read it and get to experience all the highs and lows of the characters for yourselves. I recommend it for anyone who loves good historical fiction, especially if you’re interested in pre-Civil War Southern/Southwestern fiction, and Texas history.

Evelyn Benson is mourning the death of her husband in World War II, but the love of her remaining family – her brother, sister-in-law, niece, and nephew – sustains her. Since her husband was killed in action, she’s lived with her brother and his family, and the arrangement benefits them all.

Hank Webb, or Fraidy Freddie, as his clown persona is known, is hiding from his past. He can’t face up to what he did or what his family certainly now thinks of him. Is Hartford, Connecticut far enough removed that he might be able to breathe a little?

Evelyn and Hank cross paths at the diner where Evelyn works. When a fire rips through the big top, they are both impacted. Evelyn’s family was attending the circus that day, and Hank is determined to help her find them. As they search, attraction grows between them. But will hard truths and secrets coming to light tear them apart before they even have a chance to begin?

This was an incredible story! Rhonda Dragomir beautifully captures the promise that God never leaves us nor forsakes us. Evelyn questions why God allowed so much suffering into her life. It seems like the hits just keep on coming – her husband, her family, financial difficulties – and Evelyn wrestles mightily with doubt. But hope, though battered, is never lost. A neighbor who becomes a friend is an anchor for Evelyn, helping her find her way back to faith even when storms assail.

In Hank, we see a glorious picture of redemption. He thought he had committed an unpardonable act in a moment of foolishness, and he fled, obscuring even his name. He didn’t want to face the consequences of his actions, and he didn’t want to bring what he imagined was untold shame to his family. But when it was necessary, he stood up to do the right thing, regardless of the potential cost to himself. And as Scripture says, “Whoever lives by the truth comes into the light” (John 3:21 NIV).

I read this book in one sitting. The subject matter is deep and heavy at times, and there are a a couple of descriptions of injuries that, while not excessively gory, may evoke a a wince or two if you’re squeamish. But the story is compelling, and Dragomir’s writing style is lyrical without being overly flowery.

In When the Flames Ravaged, Rhonda Dragomir spins a captivating tale that will have you reaching for the tissues and keep you glued to the pages. Highly recommended if you love well-written historical fiction with a thread of sweet romance woven in.

I received an advance copy of this book from JustRead Publicity Tours. I was not obligated to leave a review. All opinions here are mine, and I don’t say nice things about books I don’t actually like.

I’ll admit, I haven’t yet bought into the benefits of AI, especially not as it relates to my Christian faith. Faith seems like something too personal, too intimate, too real to be adequately addressed by a machine intelligence. I’d read about the church that hosted a service totally created by AI, including the sermon, and I was a little bit horrified, if I’m honest. So when I saw that Preston and Harriet Lewis had a book of devotionals created using ChatGPT, I thought, okay, I gotta see this. I was skeptical. REALLY skeptical.

The authors do a good job explaining their process and setting out their own faith, so it’s clear where they’re coming from. Their beliefs line up with mine, which seemed like a good starting point. The book is broken down into chapters, with each chapter covering a different topic and including several AI-generated devotionals on that topic. Each devotional includes a verse, a devotional, and a prayer. The authors also included a chapter with devotionals that they had drafted, to allow for comparison between AI-generated and human-created works.

As I read, I didn’t see anything that stood in stark opposition to my faith. Quite the contrary. The AI-created material seemed to line up well with what I hold as scriptural truth. It hit all the right notes. But it didn’t feel quite “right” as I pored over the devotionals. The prayers seemed, well, scripted, not like something I would pray from the heart, and really, not even like something I could use as a starting point. It made me think of the parable in Luke comparing the Pharisee’s prayer with the tax collector’s. “The Pharisee stood and began praying this in regard to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, crooked, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to raise his eyes toward heaven, but was beating his chest, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’” (Luke 18:11-13 NASB) The AI-written prayers felt like the Pharisee’s prayer – slick.

I also noticed that the AI-drafted works tended to start sounding alike over time. There were words used often enough to be noticeable. One such word was “unwavering.” I think I counted it 33 times before I quit keeping track. If it was something written by a person, edited by a person, that repetition would eventually catch the eye, and the writer would think, “Huh, perhaps I should vary my word choice a little!”

And when I got to the personal devotionals, it hit me: AI doesn’t include any personal stories. There are no tales about kids and grandkids, no gentle humor at one’s own expense, no relatable experiences that encourage and uplift the reader. That’s why I think calling it “AI-generated” is accurate. AI can manipulate the data it’s trained on and produce a document that fits specified parameters. But AI can’t take an idea and put emotion behind it.

This was a fascinating experiment. I’m glad Preston and Harriet Lewis put this out there, and I like the way they structured it. For this Bible-believing girl, though, AI’s affirmation of my faith will never take the place of sharing the Word with a body of like-minded believers. We’re created for community, and AI can’t give us that.

Five stars for an engaging intellectual exercise and because I loved the personally written devotional chapter!

Conquergood & the Center of the Intelligible Mystery of Being is a fascinating, disturbing look at a future that isn’t completely implausible.

Set in 2183, it’s the story of Jerome Conquergood and his quest to find his missing brother, Vincent. Conquergood, as he’s referred to, is a strayer, an outcast, eking out the means of survival in the post-apocalyptic wasteland that is Old York City. Desperate to learn what has happened to Vincent and reunite with him, Conquergood gives in and accepts employment as a Turnkey Specialist with the Korporation. Yes, Korporation with a K. That is not a typo. (Fewston intentionally replaces all the hard “c” sounds with a “k,” and it’s very effective at discombobulating the reader.) The Korporation provides a utopia for its people. Food, comfortable accommodation, clothing, all needs are met. What will Conquergood be willing to relinquish to the world’s new overlord to find the last of his family?This is a book of contrasts. Old York City is supposedly decaying and ruined, while the Korporate citadel is supposedly clean, shiny, technologically advanced, everything we’re told we should want. But the mostly vapid, self-absorbed populace of the Korporation stands in stark difference to the vital, active strayers still living and thinking and doing for themselves. As the Bible says, “Better to eat a dry crust of bread with peace of mind than have a banquet in a house full of trouble” (Proverbs 17:1 GNT). And make no mistake, there is trouble. The Korporation controls everything – supply, demand, work, law, governance, all of it – but they want more. “The here and the now, the beginning and the end, Korporate Kontrol demands supreme allegiance and absolute power.”

The world-building here is fantastic. You can almost see the characters Fewston creates, smell the pristine air of Korporate quarters, and feel the grit of Old York City rubbing off on your skin as you read. The technological marvels described are intriguing and just a little bit creepy.

The story is told from Conquergood’s current perspective and in flashbacks, and I often found myself wondering (as did our hero) what was real and what was some kind of trick of the mind. If there were tricks of the mind involved, who was playing those tricks? Surely the Korporation wouldn’t tell Conquergood what they thought he wanted to hear to get him to do what they want…would they? And when you see the backstory of the Korporation unfold, when you learn what they’re really going for, you have to question whether society could actually take a similar path. Isn’t that what a good dystopian tale should do – wave the red flag that tells us, “Don’t go this way”?

This is one of the most mind-bending books I’ve read in recent memory. It almost defies description, but in the best possible way. The ending left me positively gobsmacked and most interested to see if Conquergood does indeed return in a future book, as this one hints at. I wouldn’t call this an easy read. I had to read for a while, then put it down and think on it. But it is definitely worth the time to pore over Conquergood’s tale.

Brandon has everything he could want – except the hand of the woman he loves. Angela doesn’t deny her feelings for Brandon, but a previous bad experience with marriage has left her leery of another commitment. But Brandon is nothing if not persistent, and he invites Angela to come away for a weekend at the atmospheric Harbor Pointe Inn intent on persuading her to say yes.

Jan Sikes packs quite a wallop into a short novella! She doesn’t need 300 pages to give us well-written characters and a compelling story. Brandon could be the quintessential entitled rich guy, thinking Angela should jump at the chance to be with him. But Sikes writes him in such a way that you can tell he genuinely cares about Angela. I get the feeling that if she chooses to tell him no, he won’t give up on her, but he won’t act like a spoiled brat about it, either. Angela looks forward to spending time with Brandon, but she’s also excited about the weekend because she’ll have the chance to both practice her photography and do a little ghost hunting. She’s sensitive to the world around her, empathic to people’s feelings, and as with Brandon, you can tell she cares about him very much – even if she doesn’t think she’s quite ready to jump into marriage again. I really cared about what happened to them, about where their story went, because Sikes wrote them in such a likable way.

The atmosphere at the inn is both romantic and creepy. The cover portrays it wonderfully, and Sikes creates the setting that you’d expect from an inn on a cliff overlooking the ocean. The innkeeper is courteous, sure, but you get the distinct feeling he’s not being forthright. He seems to be dodging the question of what happened to bring first responders out just as Brandon and Angela are checking in. His answer about an unfortunate accident doesn’t ring true, and you wonder along with our main characters what he might be hiding. A walk in the forest sounds peaceful, but even as Brandon and Angela are enjoying each other’s company, I found myself waiting tensely, peeking over my figurative shoulder, waiting to see what evil lurked among the trees. Suspense simmered just beneath the idyllic surface of the inn and its surroundings, and it was fantastic.

The story intensifies slowly at first, but when the penny drops, it drops quickly. The resolution of the mystery wasn’t as much of a surprise as it could have been, given the actions of some of the characters in the book. But there was still the tension of seeing how everything would play out, and whether Brandon and Angela would get a happy ending.

This was the first of Sikes’ books that I’ve read, but it certainly won’t be the last. She had me flipping those electronic pages as fast as I could to see what happened next! I strongly recommend her book for readers who like a little mystery and a touch of the paranormal with their romance.

December 1923. Ellie is getting ready to celebrate the Christmas holiday with the dearest people in her life: her fiancé, Detective Hugh Seldon; her butler, Clifford; and the lively ladies on her staff. But all that is turned on its ear when a letter arrives from a Mr. Godfrey Cunliffe, an old friend of Ellie’s Uncle Byron. He suspects his life is in danger, and he’s asking for assistance.

So Ellie and Clifford, along with the bulldog Gladstone and the ginger cat Tompkins, pack up the Rolls and head off to Cornwall, to Mr. Cunliffe’s ancestral home of Gwel an Mor. They arrive to find police cars in the drive and fear that they’re too late. But Mr. Cunliffe is unexpectedly alive and well. His gardener, Jerome St. Clair, has met an untimely end, and now Mr. Cunliffe fears St. Clair’s killer mistook the gardener for him. So he still fears for his life, but he’s less than pleased about having to resort to help from a woman. He isn’t much happier about help from a male servant, and sometimes it seems like he’d rather have no help at all.

There is so much to enjoy in this story! Gwel an Mor is a truly Gothic pile, complete with a layabout nephew and two dotty old aunts (who may or may not be as dotty as they seem). And there’s no shortage of skullduggery on the grounds. The gardens that St. Claire was hired to bring back to their former glory are really a hot mess, and what have the under-gardeners got up to in the bits that haven’t yet been cleared off? What about Mr. and Mrs. Liddicoat, the servants who came with the house? Cornwall has a past rich in smuggling. Are any or all of them up to old tricks in modern times, perhaps?

The nearby village offers loads of Cornish color, and it was delightful! I loved the Christmas traditions that the villagers shared with Ellie and Clifford, and how they jump right in and take part. The descriptions of the food were a lot of fun for me, too. Some sounded like things I might try, some not so much.

And I also loved the way Bright worked Hugh into the story. He can’t investigate a crime outside his jurisdiction, so they find a way to get around that. No, I’m not telling you how – read the book!

The lighthouse was another integral and interesting part of the story. Its history gives some insight into Cunliffe’s family, and the lighthouse keeper (Woon – just Woon) is able to share some useful details with Ellie and Clifford.

There’s no shortage of tight spots, either. Some, like Ellie driving the lumbering Rolls on narrow Cornish cliffside roads (I could picture Clifford clinging firmly to the “oh sh!t” handle above the window – would a Rolls have one of those, do you think?), are more comical than others, when I was truly concerned for our dynamic duo. But, as you probably figured, none of the tight spots are inescapable.

The murderer was not who I expected, and many things were not what they first appeared. Bright brings all the threads together in a most satisfactory conclusion, and now I’m left waiting eagerly for the next book in the series.

A Christmas setting, a house that’s a character in and of itself, witty banter between Eleanor and Clifford, twists and turns and fascinating characters – once again, Verity Bright has given us a charmer of a book! Eleanor Swift remains solidly on my list of favorite amateur sleuths.

Disclaimer: Thank to Bookouture and NetGalley for a review copy. All opinions here are mine, and I don’t say nice things about books I don’t actually like.

Emma Taggart dedicates her life to caring for her charges at Heaven’s Door Orphanage. She loves them without reservation, and figures they’re the closest she’ll come to having children of her own. So when her new neighbor, former soldier Stone Landry, shows up one day and accuses her of failing to keep an eye on them, she doesn’t take it very well. But when an attorney shows up saying that neither the orphanage nor Landry have any claim to the land they’re living on and have to vacate the premises, Stone and Emma realize they’ve got to work together to keep their homes. No-good rancher Zeke Parker will stop at nothing to take the land out from under them all, and Stone isn’t going to let that happen.

I love, love, love, Linda Broday’s books! I had only good things to say about the first in this series, Winning Maura’s Heart, and she continues the story in fine fashion with Courting Miss Emma.

As one of the hangman’s daughters, Emma has given up on the idea of love. Sure, her sister Maura managed to escape the fate of being the hangman’s daughter, but Emma reckons that won’t happen for her. She envisions potential epitaphs for herself as a lonely spinster, and those are by turns wryly funny and heartbreaking.

Linda Broday gives us a lot to focus on in this book! There’s the main story of the dastardly land grab by the villainous Zeke Parker. We also get to meet a new, unexpected Taggart family member, and in wonderful found family fashion, Stone takes in a young man and does a pretty good job of parenting even though he thinks his own past makes him unsuitable as a father.

There’s action aplenty, with gun battles and a kidnapping (that doesn’t go quite according to the kidnappers’ plans). But there’s also that sweet, sizzling romance. Broday writes clean romance that, for its lack of on-page spice (which I appreciate!), may still leave you fanning yourself because my, doesn’t it seem a bit warm in here? They get off to a rough start, but the chemistry between Emma and Stone practically burns off the page from the get-go, and I am here for it. They’re two wonderfully flawed people who’ve learned to expect the worst from life that find each other and realize that maybe life’s best isn’t out of reach for them after all.

I love that Emma isn’t some wilting violet. She isn’t afraid to jump into the thick of things, and she also isn’t afraid to tell Stone Landry exactly what she thinks. She’s a heroine who doesn’t just wring her hand and wait timidly to be rescued when she finds herself in a difficult spot. She’s resourceful and uses what she’s got to make it easier for her rescuers to get her out of harm’s way.

The children are just wonderful. Emma loves them with all her heart, and maybe they grow on Stone a little, too! Their interactions with Stone and his camels are hilarious, and their determination to help their beloved Miss Emma is touching. I want to reach into the pages and hug them all.

And yes, I said camels! Stone has rescued camels that were mustered out of military service. If you’re a long-time reader of the blog, you may remember another Lone Star Lit book that talked about the military camels of Texas, Once Upon a Camel. That book is for a younger audience, but I loved it, too, and it was fun seeing the camels show up in a different context.

Found family, sweet romance, action, tension, hope rising from the ashes – Courting Miss Emma has everything I love in a book. It’s in the running to be one of my favorite books of 2023.

Reading Ginny Andrews’ writing is like sitting down with a dear friend and just shooting the breeze. You know, if the breeze happens to include stories about yoga sessions gone wrong, adventures on the “yellow dog” (the school bus), and how not to react in an unexpected lockdown drill, among other shenanigans.

With wit and wry insight, Andrews regales the reader with tales of her missed cues and missteps in this journey we call life. I’ve often said that my epitaph will be “It seemed like a good idea at the time,” and I think Andrews might say the same. Even something as seemingly simple as rubbing some Bengay on the aches and pains of impending middle age turns hilariously, awfully funny. (And she had a coupon to buy the Bengay! She is my people!) Her monologues are filled with those things that have you wanting to crawl in a hole when they happen, but you know you’ll laugh at them. Eventually.

I think Ginny Andrews and I would be BFFs if we moved in next door to each other! Pizza and Dr Pepper and swappin’ stories for the win.

So if you’re one of those totally put-together people who’s never put a foot wrong, someone who always knows the right thing to say and the right way to act, this may not be your kind of book. But if, like me, you’ve said to yourself, “Well, that didn’t go the way I expected,” then I think you’ll be snort-laughing your way through Good Talk…Good Talk like I did, and you should read it immediately.

In Sweet Comfort, Gloria Bachman tied herself in knots to avoid owning up to her feelings for Mason Lassiter. (In case you’re wondering, I loved that book.) In Finding Comfort, will we see her finally admit how she feels?

I am so glad to be back in Comfort with Gloria, Kali, Lacy, the Bunco ladies, and the Knitters! Here we see Comfort going all out. They’ve got a gen-you-wine celebrity coming to town in Jazzy Mescal, and the head of the Chamber of Commerce has everyone jumping through hoops to get things small-town photo op perfect. Gloria has taken on the task of planning a mixer for the townspeople and the TV folks, but a blue norther blowing in during the evening sends everyone running for cover. The next day, when the storm has passed, a new storm is unleashed as the town learns Jazzy Mescal is dead.

Kimberly Fish gives us a heck of a ride trying to sort out this puzzle! Is it suicide? Is it murder? Does Comfort have a killer lurking in its midst? Drue has eyes for Jazzy’s father, Cadillac “Cal” Wilson, and she implores Gloria to figure out what really happened. Despite Gloria’s insistence that she’s no detective, she finds herself smack dab in the thick of things, chasing clues and trying to find patterns in the facts.

We see a lot of different threads skillfully woven into the story in addition to the main thread of the mystery. Gardner, Gloria’s frenemy from her Kerrville days, is in town, and she keeps popping up like a bad penny. She claims to want to make amends, but Gloria is having none of it. A supposed food writer for Texas Monthly is sniffing around, on top of all the press drawn to town by Jazzy’s untimely demise, and he claims to want to write about the food scene in Comfort, starting with Sweeties. What’s his real story, and why is Gardner hanging out with him?

As always, Fish gives us many characters to love and some to boo heartily, and she fills the pages with small-town charm. In this book, the care and concern people have for their own is on full display. Gloria may have questioned whether she really fit in, but here, her friends and neighbors make it clear that she is very important to them. And Gloria, after wiffling and waffling and driving herself bonkers with what ifs, finally has to own up to her attraction to, and feelings for, Mason. What does their future hold? Let me just say that Fish throws some details in here that make me love both Gloria and Mason even more! I just want to reach into the pages and hug them both. And there’s also a perfect setup for the third book in the series, and now I gotta wait. Whine, whimper. Waiting is haaaaard.

I’ll admit, I didn’t see the big reveal coming. Something I thought was a fairly minor part of the story turned out to be much bigger than I anticipated, and it made for some fantastic “couldn’t put it down” reading! Even when I thought everything was resolved, there were a couple of reveals yet to come in Comfort. How long do I have to wait for the third book?! That’s too long!

The bonds of friendship, people pulling together to support their own, the charms of a small town I dearly want to visit now, chocolate (because duh, chocolate makes everything better), and that sweet, sweet, slow-burn, second-chance romance for people just about my age. That makes Finding Comfort a whole lot of fun to read for this old girl!

Sutton Buchanan has her life in Savannah pretty much the way she likes it. She’s got her job, her friends, and her passel of guinea pigs. But when her mother calls to say her father has been injured on the job and will be laid up for a while, Sutton reluctantly heads back home to Beacon Hill. Back to help her parents and face her hateful sister, Sissy. Sissy has come back home after failing to make a splash in the modeling world, and she’s now engaged to marry Sutton’s teenage crush, Macon St. James.

Sutton would just as soon have a root canal with no anesthetic as spend time in the presence of either her sister or Holden St. James, Mason’s brother. As a teenager, she had the opportunity to hear what he and his family thought of her sister, her family, and it wasn’t flattering. When she’s thrown into regular contact with him for pre-wedding events, she finds herself fighting an unexpected attraction to him.

Having grown up in a small Southern town, I understand that there are some families that are like town royalty. They’re held in a certain awe. Even if Sutton’s family was comfortably middle-class or even upper middle-class, I can see how a family like the St. James family would be seen as a cut or two above, and interactions could be uneasy.

And I’ll tell you what, if I was Sutton Buchanan, I don’t know that I’d want to go back home, either. Sissy was a raging heifer who got her way about EVERYTHING. I grew up in a small Southern town. I’ve known people like that. They get what they want, when they want, and they don’t care who they trample in the process. And mom and dad apparently just let Sissy run roughshod over whoever she wants, including her own sister. I know that sometimes parents favor one child, but my heart really hurt for Sutton. Her parents loved her, sure, but a love that won’t protect you from a horrible sibling seems anemic at best.

And nobody seemed willing to rein Sissy in! Not her parents, not her fiance, nobody. The descriptions of wedding dress shopping had me alternately laughing and rolling my eyes. If I’d picked out some of those dresses like Sissy was eyeballing, my mama would have yanked a knot in my head and told me absolutely not.

Maxine was one of my most favorite characters in the book! She is the epitome of ride or die. She wanted to see Sutton happy, and she wasn’t above pulling some outrageous shenanigans to make Sutton’s wedding responsibilities a little less painful. Everybody needs a Maxine in their life.

Holden St. James was also a nice surprise. Sutton had what she thought was a legitimate reason to dislike him and his family (although Macon never seemed to be painted with that same brush, which was a little surprising). Even when Sutton seemed to be going out of her way to hold the past against him, Holden was a gentleman. As the story progressed, it became clear that he cared for her, and I was cheering for Sutton to get over herself and admit her feelings. Neither Holden nor Macon turned out to be what Sutton thought they were!

I’ll admit, as I read, I kept waiting for one of those rom-com twists where there’s a horrible misunderstanding, the newly fledged relationship is derailed, and boy has to fight to win girl back (or vice versa). And I thought I saw it coming. But Emily Mayer twisted the twist, and I was thrilled to see it. Sutton found her own inner Southern steel magnolia and put her foot down. Huzzah!

If you love a small-town Southern setting and a fun enemies-to-lovers romance with a side of dysfunctional family, you’ll enjoy Pretend with Me!

Adelais has returned to her homeland. She longs for a simple life, one where she is free to love and be loved, one where she can be herself, just a woman, and not the supposed savior of her people. But it is not to be. Even in Duke Ragenar’s court, people clamor to see her and hail her as the örlaga vefari, the fate weaver foretold by prophecy. And even in Duke Ragenar’s court, the arm of those who want to kill her reaches out.

The runes cast to foretell Adelais’ possible future speak of betrayal and victory at great cost. She may not want to be the chosen one, but war is coming, and want it or not, Adelais finds herself at the center of it. And so begins a battle not only between opposing countries, but a battle between the old gods of Vriesland the the new god of Ischyros. One side led by the she-wolf in cloth of gold, the other led by a most holy relic shrouded in gold.

As always, G. N. Gudgion does a marvelous job with his characters. Familiar characters appear in the story, with no certainty as to which of them will survive until the end. New characters are added, and Hjalmar, son of the northern lord Jarl Magnus and friend of Adelais, in particular won my heart. Revna, Magnus’ seidkhona, also quickly became a favorite.

Rune magic played a more prominent part in this book, as Gudgion gives us more of the underlying mythology. Magic plays an important role at several key points in the story, and it’s just fascinating to read about. The Nornir, Norse goddesses of fate, play a part in the story, and we again see the she-wolf shadowing Adelais, bound by love and magic. Gudgion does a fantastic job giving us the wolf’s viewpoint, and I found that added a lot to my enjoyment of the story.

And the runes did not lie. We see twists and turns as fate weaves, plots laid and alliances broken. You think you know where something is going, and then bam! It isn’t at all what you think. The politics of religion is again a crucial part of the tale, and the forces of Ischyros heading off to battle call to mind the Knights Templar and the Crusades.

With Blood of Wolves, G. N. Gudgion gives us a thrilling read, a fitting send-off to a tale told well. This is some of the best new fantasy I’ve read, and since I can’t pick just one of them, the entire series will be in the running for my best books of 2023.

Thanks to Second Sky and Netgalley for a review copy. All opinions here are mine, and I don’t say nice things about books I don’t actually like.

Silent Stars is the conclusion to Brett Armstrong’s Tomorrow’s Edge trilogy. I haven’t read the first two books, Day Moon and Veiled Sun, and I feel like I would have benefited from knowing the full background of events and characters. I was able to follow along well enough to enjoy the story, though.

Elliott is desperate to bring his grandfather’s plans to completion. The missing files continue to elude him, though, and when he learns of something even bigger, even more terrifying than Project Alexandria, he has to adjust his plans. The Babel Initiative must be stopped at all costs, for if it comes to pass, it will be the end of humanity as we know it. Elliott works with known allies and joins with some he doesn’t know in an effort to bring down Dr. Almundson’s horrifying scheme. One big unknown is The Informer, someone who has appeared to Elliott and his compatriots only as a digitally disguised figure who’s given to speaking in Shakespearean quotes. Is the Informer someone who can be relied upon, or is he part of a trap being laid for them?

The book is one big adrenaline rush. Elliott and Lara run from danger to danger, with only brief interludes of rest, until they face the final battle. I shared Elliott’s anxiety as he tried to discern who he could trust. I felt the tension as he worked to manipulate technology in their self-driving vehicle to keep them hidden from the network, to avoid capture by the powers that be.

The author’s faith is clearly on display here. Some stories hint at Christianity. This one has it in full view, and Elliott’s belief in God is an integral part of his character. Now, his isn’t the pat-answer, have-it-all-under-control variety of faith. He makes mistakes (as our pastor is fond of saying, “None of us walk on water,” and I think Elliott would agree that he does not). He runs from what he feels God nudging him to do. He chooses poorly and has to deal with the consequences of his choices. But he doesn’t give in to temptation when promised that things will fall his way if he’ll just renounce his faith in God. He holds fast when it counts most, and God is faithful. I’ll tell you what, I was cheering at the big climax of the book, and what the characters experienced reminded me that yes indeed, God is faithful, and He never leaves us or forsakes us.

Dystopian vibes in a near future, nail-biting tension, characters working through and living out their faith even in the face of overwhelming opposition, a vividly constructed sci-fi world that isn’t too hard to imagine becoming a reality – if these things appeal to you, I highly recommend Silent Stars and the entirety of the Tomorrow’s Edge trilogy. I’m glad I had the opportunity to get to know the works of Brett Armstrong. I’ll be reading more!

Nate Holub is weary of his small-animal veterinary job in Houston. When he's offered a position as the second vet in the large-animal practice in his small hometown of Hadlow, Texas, he decides to make a change. He takes the job. Moves to the country. And proceeds to do a lot of second-guessing of his decision.

We meet a varied cast of characters as Nate encounters them. His cousin Wink in particular stands out, as it seems like he's got some kind of beef with Nate. Other standouts include Nate's laconic grandmother Viola, his reclusive cousin Tilly, and his partner (boss?) in the vet practice, Everett. They all bring a unique point of view to the story and add their own individual threads to this tapestry of family. I think Tilly was one of my favorites. She was such a surprising character that her interactions with Nate, though brief, really stood out in my mind. She illustrated how easy it is to lose connection with part of our family, whether through physical distance and the passage of time or through efforts made to create that distance.

The animal interactions in the story are vividly and effectively drawn, and you can tell Porter knows that of which he writes. I've heard this book likened to James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small. I've never read that book, but if it evokes the same feelings of compassion and connectedness with animals, I might like it, too. Some of the scenes involve surgery on animals and animal death, but they aren't thrown in for shock value. I imagine that's part and parcel of a veterinary practice. Nate himself struggles to handle it, and more than once questions whether he made the right decision coming back to Hadlow.

He also questions whether he's doing the right thing looking for information about his father's death. He knows there's more to the story than he was told, and his mother has long tried to keep that information from him. Memories come back to him in flashes, and as he digs, he learns more about what actually happened. But is this a path he should be taking, or would it have been better for everyone if he'd let past events lie?

At its heart, this is a story of family, their connections to each other, their connections to the land where generations have been born and raised. Nate thought he'd left his home place behind. In returning, he must decide whether to live focused on the past or whether it's time to plant his own roots there and give his daughters a foundation from which they can grow. It's not an action-packed story, although there are some moments of tension. Rather, it's a quiet, reflective tale that gives the reader space to consider their own family ties, how they might hinder and how they might help. It makes me miss my own growing up in the country, just a little. This is Brian Porter's first novel, but I sure hope it isn't his last. He's an author to watch.

At the end of Thief of Spring, the first book in the duology, Hades is trapped in Tartarus and Persephone finds herself stepping into his role. Queen of Night picks up where Thief of Spring left off, with Sephy desperate to rescue Hades.

This book, y'all, Katherine Macdonald weaves fae elements and traditional Greek mythology together to tell a story that just grabbed me by the heart. Hades - Luliver - is a broken boy, hurt by those who were supposed to love him. We get a look back at all the times Sephy met him as a child, and it's clear that she was his anchor to anything good and kind and true. Sephy is perfectly imperfect. She doesn't instantly master her new abilities. She isn't superwoman, remaining stoic in the face of adversity and her true love's absence. She struggles to learn to control her powers. She misses Hades and has to find ways to persevere even though sometimes she'd just like to curl up and cry.

And I really liked getting to see more of the minor characters in this book. I love Sephy's dad. Everything he did, he did for love of Sephy and her mother. Seeing him in the same space with Sephy's mother and learning more of their backstory was wonderful. And Libby? My goodness, she is a delight! She jumps right into the underworld scene and gets busy learning how to make heads roll. She doesn't let being human slow her down in the least. That's a best friend - one who'll follow you to the Underworld and not ask why.

This was well worth the read, and I really liked the combining of two familiar things - fae and myth - to make something new and delightful.

My thanks to Booksprout for an ARC of the book. All opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books I don't actually like.

Josie Quinn is coming back to work after the traumatic death of her grandmother Lisette. She isn't sure she's ready to be back at work. As she stops to visit the grave of her first husband, Ray, on her way in to the office, she hears a woman screaming. Turns out that what had appeared to be a mourner kneeling at a nearby gravesite is Krystal Duncan, a woman who's been missing for several days and who is now most definitely dead. Duncan's corpse has wax coming from her mouth, which is an odd note.

Krystal was the mother of one of five children killed several years earlier in a horrific school bus accident. The bus driver was charged in their deaths, and his trial is coming up soon. Does Krystal's death have anything to do with that tragedy? When another parent of a child killed in the accident also goes missing, it's an angle that Josie has to consider.

Once again, Lisa Regan has spun a suspenseful yarn that pulled me right in and didn't let me go. Everyone in this book has secrets, and once she starts investigating, it doesn't take long for Josie to figure out that the killer has got to be someone connected with the bus accident. What secrets do they know? How do they know them? Can she figure out what secret is worth killing for before all the parents of the children who died are taken out?

Not only is Josie having to solve a challenging, emotionally charged case, she's also having to deal with her own emotions. She's struggling with grief over Lisette's death, and each crime scene brings flashbacks to the night Lisette was shot. Josie is tough, but in this book we clearly see that she isn't some crime-solving superwoman. She's human, and she hurts, and it makes her that much more of a believable, relatable character.

The story moved quickly, and it was hard for me to break away from it. I wanted desperately to see what happened next! And isn't that the hallmark of a great story? Lisa Regan has set a new standard for thrillers with Josie Quinn. Gotta read 'em all.

Disclaimer: My thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for an advance reader copy of the book. All opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books I don't actually like.

I do love a good fairy tale retelling, and I've decided no one does them better than Katherine Macdonald. Kingdom of Thorns is a wonderfully written, vividly imagined version of the story of Sleeping Beauty, one unlike any other I've read. Here, an enchanted sleep isn't just a sleep, and nothing is what it seems.

The interactions between Talia and Leo are delightful to read. Leo has self-deprecating charm as a second son, but he doesn't descend into self-pity. Talia is often brusque and sarcasm is her second language, but there is more to her than that. Their jibes back and forth, especially once they realize that maybe they feel more for each other than prince on a quest and forest guide, are lots of fun.

The dark fairy who cursed the princess is a menacing presence more often than a present and active character in the book, but that's all that is needed. And when she shows up, she really is quite nasty. I enjoyed Macdonald's vision of how Briar tried to fight the curse and what effect that might have had. You think, oh, sleeping princess in a castle, her true love just has to find her and wake her up, problem solved. But I always thought it would be kind of ridiculous for a princess asleep for who knows how long to fall in love with the first guy who happened along and gave her a smooch - she wouldn't know the first thing about him, how could he be her true love? And would getting there really be just as easy as walking into the castle? Macdonald fleshes all of that out quite nicely here.

I think this is my favorite of Macdonald's books that I've read so far (and that's saying something, because I adored Hades and Persephone). I laughed, I cried, I cheered. I want to read it again.

Thanks to Booksprout and the author for a complimentary review copy. All opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books that I don't actually like.

I was intrigued by the title of The Safecracker's Secret and wanted to read it before I even knew what it was about. Sandra Bretting does not disappoint.

Gene Jacks is getting up in years. He lives with his dog and runs a locksmith shop. In the past, he was known as the best of the best at safecracking. Now, from time to time, he uses his skills to assist the Houston Police Department in opening safes at crime scenes. He's old school - no high-tech gizmos or explosives, just a good ear and a deft touch with the tumblers. He's called upon here to help when the police find a young woman, a student at a local college, dead at a drug house.

Skye has a less than stellar relationship with her father. He just doesn't seem to connect with her or really understand her. But Skye stumbles across Gene's shop, and Gene hires her when he realizes that she's a lot better with numbers than Reef, the guy he'd just hired. Skye finds something of a father figure in Gene, and Gene finds a protege in Skye. Turns out she has some raw talent at safecracking, and I'd love to see more of that story unfold in a different book.

There are unexpected connections throughout the story, and while the murder of the young woman is a mystery to be solved, to me, the story was more about relationships. Skye and her father, Skye and Gene, Gene and his past and how that both draws him toward and pushes him away from Skye, all of these threads are woven throughout the story. Bretting does a wonderful job at presenting each character's viewpoint clearly, and she weaves them together nicely at the end.

I was delighted to receive an advance copy of The Growing Season. It's a devotional based on seasons and farm life. I grew up with a farming father, so this sounded right up my alley.

If you've ever read Bash and the Pirate Pig, Bash refers to the Bible as the “Farmin' and Fishin' Book.” (If you haven't read it, and you have kids, go get it and read with them. But I digress.) Farming is a theme that blends nicely with the Christian faith - the Bible talks about us as believers bearing fruit, the Word of God as a seed that takes root in our hearts, Jesus as the true Vine and believers as the branches, and so much more that fits well with agriculture.

I'm not done with the book yet. It's not designed to be devoured in one sitting, but rather for savoring one devotional each week. I started with Fall, and I'll work my way through. I love how each devotional tells a story from Sarah's own experiences and weaves that in with Scriptural truth. It feels like I'm talking to a friend over a cup of coffee, not being hit upside the head with a King James Bible. (As an aside, I love that she uses the phrase “hades in a handbasket” - I've said that a lot myself!)

The Growing Season is an excellent read for us farm gals and anyone who wants a good dose of simple truth, whether we're actually working on the farm, living in the suburbs, or in a high-rise city apartment. Bonus if you want some good recipes. Pick up this book and use it to draw closer to Christ.

My thanks to the author and publisher for an advance reader copy. All opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books I don't actually like.

I'll grant you, A Letter from Nana Rose is not normally the type of book I'd gravitate toward. I prefer mysteries, usually of the cozy variety, or a good fantasy, or maybe a gripping thriller. But sister fiction? Romance? Meh. The hint of a long-kept secret to be revealed after Nana Rose's death, though, was enough of a hook that I thought I'd take a chance on it.

I am so glad I did!

Nana Rose has been a fixture in the lives of Jill and her sisters, Rachel and Brooke, throughout their childhood. Now, though, Nana Rose has passed away, and the sisters are spending one more vacation at Dune Island at her request. She's left a letter telling them that they'll receive a letter from her each day of their stay, and she's indicated that they'll be learning things about their family that have never before been revealed.

Jill is hoping desperately to convince her sisters to keep Nana Rose's house. Rachel and Brooke, though, have what they feel are strong cases for selling the property. As the letters come in day by day, and Nana's story is told in flashbacks, the sisters learn that Nana Rose wasn't the only one keeping secrets. Nana's past is revealed, and the sisters learn things about each other, too.

This story, y'all. There were ups and downs as we learned what each sister was trying to keep from the others and how that might impact their decision regarding Nana's house. There were moments of frustration when the sisters were apparently at an impasse, and it felt like they were each seeing only their own point of view. And when everything comes out into the open, when all the secrets are revealed, then we see the true power of love and family to unite and heal.

This is the first of Harper's books that I've read. I don't know if she'll revisit these characters in another book, if we'll see what happens with Jill and hunky tree surgeon Alex, if the sisters' children will bring their kids to the house on Dune Island. I liked this story enough that I wouldn't mind seeing the characters again in a future book.

If you're a fan of books that are clean and sweet and give you the warm fuzzies, pick up A Letter from Nana Rose.

Disclaimer: I received an advance review copy from Netgalley and Bookouture. All opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books I don't actually like.

Amanda Cox's first book, The Edge of Belonging, was one of my favorite reads of 2020. I had high expectations for this, her latest. She met them in fine style.

I enjoy a good dual-timeline story, and this one is very well done. We see the story unfold through the eyes of three women: Glory Ann, her daughter Rosemary, and her granddaughter Sarah. In 1965, Glory Ann finds herself in the family way, and her sweetheart is presumed dead in the war. Her parents, determined not to see their child and their family name ruined, find a young man, Clarence, who agrees to marry Glory Ann and raise the child as his own.

In the present time, Glory Ann and her daughter, Rosemary, are on the outs about the Old Depot Grocery. Rosemary insists it's time to sell off the store, citing the shiny new supermarket in town as her reason to get while the getting is good, and Glory Ann is equally determined that it is not. Sarah hoped to come home and take up where she left off, running the store with her grandmother and mother. But now she fears that may not happen.

The main theme of the story is secrets. All three of our main characters have them. They keep their secrets to themselves, even when it would benefit them to let others in on what they're trying to hide. Sometimes I wanted to smack Rosemary, or Sarah, or Glory Ann, for not letting people who might need to know in on their secrets. But the frustration I felt with them for keeping mum on things didn't lessen the fact that I liked them as characters. Because honestly, haven't we all kept secrets when it would have been smarter not to?

The men of the story weren't the main focus, but they were just as important. The whole thing would have fallen apart without Clarence. I mean, imagine agreeing to marry a pregnant young lady and raise her child with someone else as your own. And you stick to your word, and you work to create a family where once just awkwardness existed. I wanted to hear more of Clarence's story. Bo, Rosemary's husband, played only a small role, but he was also a good example of a gentle and good man, loving his wife as best as he knew how. And Clay. My goodness, he just made me smile. I was cheering for him and Sarah. (Does it work out? I'm not telling. Read the book.)

And the ending. Y'all, I did not see it coming, and I was straight up bawling. Amanda Cox can surprise me in such a wonderful, emotional way, and she sure did it here. Secrets are revealed, wounds old and new are healed, and the past comes back most unexpectedly.

My thanks to Revell for a review copy. All opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books I don't actually like.

In Living on New Orleans Time, Richard Caire uses his photos of seemingly ordinary moments in New Orleans past and captures pieces of the city's history. He preserves places that “ain't dere no mo'” (I'm a central Louisiana girl, not a New Orleans native, but I can appreciate that sometimes places ain't dere no mo'!) so that people can remember them - fondly, wistfully, however they want to. His descriptions of the places and things in the photographs range from the serious to the chuckle-inducing and everywhere in between, and they're peppered with a range of pop culture references that I could appreciate. Monty Python, Talking Heads, the Platonic solids (okay, that last one isn't pop culture). There are bits of sound advice and wisdom acquired over years woven in there, too. Mr. Caire has either done a lot of research for his book or lived a varied and fascinating life. I suspect it's the latter.

If you love New Orleans, are from New Orleans, have any kind of passing interest in New Orleans, you'll want to pick up this book. Mr. Caire memorializes the mundane, the weird, the abandoned and forgotten that even I find myself longing to visit New Orleans that was. The book makes me want to pay more attention, to find the beauty in the small things.

Lisa Regan is a master of the tautly drawn crime thriller, and this, the thirteenth in the series, is no exception. This book grabbed me from the get-go and it was pedal to the metal all the way through. As long as Ms. Regan keeps writing, I will keep reading. Good stuff right here.

Thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for the review copy.

Full review on my blog: https://theplainspokenpen.com/blog-tour-the-drowning-girls-detective-josie-quinn-13-by-lisa-regan/

The Barabbas Legacy is the final entry in M. D. House's trilogy about what happened to Barabbas after The Day - the day where Jesus took the punishment that should have awaited Barabbas and died in his place, and left Barabbas wondering why. It is a fitting ending to what has been a marvelous story.



The Bible tells us very little of Barabbas, other than that, when given the choice between freeing him or freeing Jesus, the Jews chose him. House has taken us on a journey of what Barabbas' life looked like afterward.



In the previous books in the trilogy, we've seen Barabbas struggle with why Jesus would choose to die in his place. We've seen his past as a Jewish rebel try to catch up with him, seen him marry well (somewhat to his surprise and disbelief). We've seen him and Chanah, his wife, grow in their faith and in their love for each other. We've seen how they've worked with the other apostles and believers to share the Gospel.

Now we see the seeds that have been planted start to bear fruit. The Barabbas Legacy is less the story about what Barabbas is doing, but about the legacy he will leave behind. He and some of the older Christian leaders, such as Cornelius and Paul, are still doing Kingdom work, but we see their children start to flourish as they head out on their own.

Marian is probably my favorite of Barabbas and Chanah's children. I loved seeing how her relationship with a Roman soldier she met on her way to Britannia not only grow romantically, but also point the soldier toward the saving love of Christ.

It was also a delight to me to see Paul reunited with his wife and grown children. Do we know for sure that that happened? No. It isn't mentioned in Scripture. But I love the imagining that it could have happened. To me, that speaks to the fact that God is most interested in our eternal state, but He also wants to see good things for us in the here and now.

The epilogue focusing on Barabbas and Chanah's daughter Sophia makes me hope that, even if this trilogy is at an end, we might see more historical fiction from House that continues to follow Barabbas' children wherever the Spirit leads them.

You would think that, after nineteen books, a series might start to lag a little. Not so with Cleo Coyle's Coffeehouse Mysteries! If you'll pardon the coffee-related pun, they're good to the last drop...er, page.

The mystery here isn't a murder, but a near-murder. A swarm of bees has shown up on the Village Blend's chimney, and Clare thinks they may belong to Madame's old friend, Bea. When she arrives at Bea's apartment, she finds that Bea fell from her rooftop greenhouse. Police on the scene thought it was a suicide attempt, and now Bea lies in ICU in a coma. Clare and Madame both know Bea wasn't the type to kill herself, so they get to digging.

There's action, and suspense, and romance, and recipes. What's not to like?

Check out my full review at https://theplainspokenpen.com/book-review-honey-roasted-coffeehouse-mystery-19-by-cleo-coyle/.

Emory Martinez and her minutes-older twin, Carrie Berger, have taken a catering gig for a holiday party. Things start out tense with the mystery client's staff, and the tension ramps up with they learn that the mystery client is their old high school nemesis, Blair. Blair was especially awful to Carrie, and her personality hasn't improved. She's mean to everybody. So when Emory and Carrie return the next morning to cater breakfast as part of their job, and find Blair has ceased to be, there's no shortage of suspects - including the sisters themselves.

This was a delightful cozy mystery! The characters, the twists and turns, the recipes at the end, all of it. As an adoptee who's recently found the paternal side of her family, I could really appreciate the storyline that had Emory and Carrie meeting their newly found sister, Vannie. It made me happy to see that circumstance portrayed so positively, and I can't wait to see more of all three sisters in future books in the series.

I didn't realize this was fourth in the series when I started reading. It read fine without me having read the other three, but I liked it so much, now I've got to go back and read them all!

I received an advance reader copy of the book through BookSirens. I am leaving this review voluntarily, and I don't say nice things about books I don't actually like.