Julie’s Review: I’ve done a few escape rooms and found them very exciting and also very difficult. So the puzzles and clues in this book were a fun theme! I also liked the premise that these teams are competing on a game show to win big bucks, and meanwhile, there’s an actual murder mystery and […]
How do you build real intimacy without losing yourself? That question sits at the heart of Evan Mark’s Vesper (Kinderspiel Press), a sparkling and sharp literary debut that puts a fresh spin on the modern romance. by Evan Mark Vesper Elsegood is in love. With being single. She can’t understand why any of her friends […]
WOW! WOMEN ON WRITING TOUR OF Chris Nielsen’s, Being Pyotr Ilyich: Tchaikovsky’s Inner Life, Revealed by Himself 130 Years Later Book Summary Being Pyotr Ilyich: Tchaikovsky’s Inner Life, Revealed by Himself 130 Years Later is a confessional spiritual memoir that explores the deeper meaning of human suffering, love, and creative purpose through the […]
Title: Author: Mel West Release Date: May 19, 2026 Blurb:A sharp, darkly funny novel capturing a generation raised on achievement and self-optimization, only to discover that visible success doesn’t guarantee fulfillment—from a debut novelist to watch. Jess appears to be doing everything right. But when her best friend falls in love, the cracks in Jess’s […]
Julie’s Review: : I kept trying to turn to the next page but my kindle was stuck! What was that ending? This series continues to get more and and more intense. Book 4 leaves off with Guardian Neil captured and taken to fae court to pay for his… sins? Book 5 here finds our heroine […]
We’re chatting about covers on Chapter Break. ‘Cause you know we all judge books by covers, whether we admit it or not. We judge the style, the color and font choices, and just the overall look. That might not keep us from reading the book, but we do still judge. Oohhhh what an interesting […]
Children’s Fantasy Adventure, Educational Fiction / Learning Adventure Date Published: February 27, 2026 In this imaginative and heartwarming picture book, Tilly and the Wisdom Trials introduces young readers to a world hidden beneath the prairie – a place where learning is a magical adventure and knowledge is the key to unlocking ancient secrets. […]
For this discussion post, we are joining the Fantasy With Friends discussion with Pages Unbound. This week’s prompt: Do you like reading fairy tale retellings? What, in your opinion, makes a good retelling? Julie: I enjoy a good twisting up of a well known story. Give me an origin story that paints the […]
Julie’s Review of : In this “Beauty and the Beast” reimagining, where the princess is both beauty and beast, we have a story focused on the race to find a cure to save her sister, and a love that cannot be denied. The MMC in this book is all green flags. Completely a cinnamon roll […]
by Stacy Carlson Release Date: May 19, 2026, Alternating Current Press Blurb: ***Winner of the 2025 Electric Book Award*** An atmospheric journey into the far northern wilds, The Gyre spins one man’s search for meaning into an astonishing saga where adventure, folklore, and the Arctic converge. Arkady Afanasyev is a nineteenth-century Russian monk who aims to be […]