Blog Entries

The Poison Bed by Elizabeth Fremantle

The Poison Bed is an intriguing psychological thriller full of history, intrigue, and murder.  It is equal parts historical fiction and true crime.  A Forensic Files for the Jacobean Age.  The book centers around the marriage of Lady Frances Howard and Robert Carr (a favorite of King James I) and the murder of their fellow courtier Thomas Overbury.  Both parties stand accused of the crime and one of them will pay with their life.  But will the true mastermind p...

D-Day Girls by Sarah Rose

D-Day Girls by Sarah Rose is a page turning work of nonfiction that documents the adventures the women of Winston Churchill’s Special Operations Executive who risked everything to prepare France for the allied invasion on June 6, 1944. During a time when very little was expected of women outside their traditional roles, these women broke barriers and took risks for the cause of freedom. They were the first women in organized combat and the first women in active duty special forces. They trained as paratroopers and infiltrated the war zone i...

Marriageology: The Art and Science of Staying Together by Belinda Luscombe

Belinda Luscombe is an editor at Time magazine who has written about marriage for over a decade.  With this work, she has written a funny and approachable guide for couples.  Marriageology is an easy read at a little over 200 pages.  (There are 30 pages of footnotes at the end, though, if you really want to check on all of her statistics.)  In general, the takeaway is that people are better off married, as long as it’s not abusive or a “war zone.”  If you can stick it out,...

Gather the Fortunes by Bryan Camp (Book 2 in the Crescent City series)

Renaissance Raines is a supernatural being known as a psychopomp, one of many who usher the recently deceased through the Seven Gates of the Underworld before they arrive at their final destination. But when she is assigned to help Ramses St. Cyr, she can’t find him. He has somehow avoided his moment of death, and that simply does not happen.

What follows is a wild journey that takes you from the darkest haunts of New Orleans through all the gates of the underworld and back again. With the help of a f...

Saving Meghan by D. J. Palmer

Saving Meghan is a page turning suspense novel that will have the reader trying to anticipate the truth only to have another twist thrown at them as the plot thickens. Meghan was a bright active 15 year old, but suddenly that changes. She starts experiencing a whole host of symptoms that medical specialists are unable to find a definitive diagnosis. The stress of not having an answer takes a toll on her parents and the mom turns to social media for support. After exhausting all the medical possibilities another specialist wonders if Meghan is truly si...

Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid         

Daisy Jones and the Six is the perfect beach read this summer.  It oozes rock and roll from every page and I loved it.  Told in the style of a rock documentary (ala Behind the Music) it tells the story of a talented and tempestuous female singer song writer breaking into the 1970’s rock scene.  Daisy Jones is just an emerging star when she hooks up the established classic rock bank The Six.  Their meteoric rise to the top of the music world is accompanied b...

A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult
 
No author can capture real world problems quite like Jodi Picoult can. In her latest novel, A Spark of Light, Picoult tackles the popular debate of pro-choice versus pro-life. The majority of the novel takes place within the walls of Mississippi's one and only abortion clinic, the Center. Within the first few pages, readers learn that the staff and patients of the Center are being held hostage by a gunman, while the police, SWAT team, and lead negotiator, Hugh McElroy, work from outside.  The situation intensifies when Hugh discover...

The Trial of Lizzie Borden by Cara Robertson

Take a step back into the gilded age with The Trial of Lizzie Borden.  We all know the story of the murder of Andrew and Abby Borden, an elderly couple hacked to death in their home in Fall River, Massachusetts in August 1892.  This book goes beyond the murders and takes a deep dive into the arrest and trial of Lizzie Borden.

Cara Robertson gives the reader a front row seat in the courtroom for one of the most sensational murder trials in American history. We get to know lawyers for the prosecution and defense. The a...

The Center of the Universe by Ria Voros

Grace is in High School and she really loves astrophysics. Her mother, GG, is a well-known local reporter who always looks “put together.” Grace doesn’t think the two of them have much in common. For one thing, her mother spends a lot of time at work. When she is at home, she is often on her cell phone and not really paying attention. Grace resents that complete strangers act as if they know GG, but they only know the side she shows the camera. One afternoon, GG disappears. At first, it seems she is working...

Ancestral Night by Elizabeth Bear

Haimey Dz works on the “tugboat” Singer, a sentient AI spaceship, along with her shipmate Connla and their two cats. What should have been another routine job towing a derelict spacecraft turns out to be something much stranger. They discover a giant artifact belonging to a long-dead race of aliens called the Koregoi. Deciding to dock with the artifact and investigate, Haimey inadvertently becomes infected with a virus. She soon realizes that the virus allows her to feel the contours of space-time and dark matter, allowing her to navigate thr...

The Tattooist of Auschwitz, written by Heather Morris, is a testament to the strength that the human spirit can endure during times of tragedy. Lale Sokolov is an educated, multi-lingual, Jewish Slovakian man who loves his family. In 1942, he is told that if he wants to keep the rest of his family safe, he must board a train and head for a work camp. He would do anything for his family so he does as he is told and ends up in the concentration camp known as Auschwitz-Birkenau. He is immediately sent to work to help raise other buildings in the camp so that they can house more prisoners and e...

Her One Mistake
By Heidi Perks

What should have been a fun-filled, carefree day takes a tragic turn for Charlotte when her best friend Harriet’s child goes missing while in her care. Harriet is so devastated that she can’t even look at Charlotte. The police are practically living with Harriet and her husband Brian while they search for any leads on the little girl who seemingly disappeared into thin air. But, as the plot unfolds, dark secrets come to light and things may not be as they seem for Charlotte or Harriet. Harriet may soon need to turn to ...

Stuck in Manistique By Dennis Cuesta

A reluctant innkeeper keeps acquiring guests he just can’t get rid of in this warm and funny story set in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

When Mark inherits his estranged aunt’s Victorian home in Manistique, he takes what he thinks will be a quick trip north to make arrangements to sell it – but no sooner does he arrive, than people start turning up on his porch looking for rooms for the night.

Unbeknownst to Mark, Aunt Vivian ran her home as a bed and breakfast – and she had booked a season full of guests. Mark knows nothing ab...

That Churchill Woman by Stephanie Barron

That Churchill Woman is a deep dive into the society lives of American and English ladies in the late 19th and early 20th century.   Our main character is one Lady Randolph Churchill, the American born socialite mother of Winston Churchill.  Jeanette, or Jennie as she was known was a beautiful and magnetic woman.  This fictionalized account is supported by real events and characters and offers a stunning glimpse into her life, her loves, and her triumphs.  She was much more than a wife and a mother.  The c...

Lost Lake written by Emily Littlejohn is a fast paced thriller that is a true whodunit. Four campers decide to camp near the ominous Lost Lake; when the campers wake the next day, one of the campers has vanished. Sari Chesney had a lot going for in life, or so it seemed, so why would she vanish into thin air? Is it foul play or just someone walking away from their past? Detective Gemma Monroe is assigned to the case and as she starts to look for clues to figure out what happened to Sari, a relic at the museum Sari worked at is stolen. Then Sari’s boss, Betty Starbuck, is murdered. Is D...