A Recipe for Romance in Brambleton by Fay Keenan

     Finding a fun, light hearted romance is a treat. Finding one with additional books in the series is a full course meal!  

Fay Keenan serves up a new entree in the feast of her Brambleton series,  A Recipe for Romance in Brambleton. 

     In the  small English village of Brambleton, Lauren Hope has created a local favorite, a sweet micro cafe that serves up Lauren's pastries,  perfect lattes and other delights. Lauren is sweetness itself as she cares for all the neighborhood, doing as much as she can for her fellow Brambletons, as well as her mother who has various health challenges. So, when a newly widowed father of twin boys, Liam and Luca, comes to Brambleton and buys the town's historic lake home, Lauren feels it is her duty to help make them welcome, when she finds them entering her little coffee shop.

The father, Marc, and his boys begin to enjoy coffees and hot drinks.  Marc and Lauren slowly take notice of each other and begin to create a relationship together. Their recipe calls for one younger recently unemployed brother in law, and another brother with his pop star singing partner. As Lauren and Marc learn to share and support one another, a possible future enters the mix.  

Having never read any of Fay Keenan's novels, I was pleased to not only find a book with such likable and developed characters but also with more books to read in the future. 

A Recipe for Romance in Brambleton had so many fun British English sayings. Keenan did an excellent job of executing her dialogue. The dialogue was so well done that I felt like I was getting a taste of an English village and it's inhabitants. 

Therefore, I am happy to recommend A Recipe for Romance in Brambleton to any of my friends and fellow readers looking for a little escape reading journey.  I rate, A Recipe for Romance in Brambleton with four stars!  Enjoy!

Thank you to Netgalley, Boldwood Books, and Fay Keenan for the advanced readers copy of A Recipe for Romance in Brambleton being published August 16th through Boldwood Books. 

#ARecipeforRomanceinBrambleton #NetGalley

Saint Delilah by Isabelle Spotts

 Creepy.

 I'm really not into tragic horror stories.  When I read the small blurb about a new book being published August 11, 2026 by Berkeley Publishing I saw the description tag of paranormal but for some reason I focussed on paranormal as perhaps timetravel or other forms of paranormal. 

Nope.

Saint Delilah by Isabelle Spotts is not that. It's a good ole' horror story dealing with murder, ghosts, psychics and poltergeists.  Think...."Sixth Sense" with more of an adult flair of evil murder and trauma.  

Delilah, an exotic dancer at the club, "Night Faces" , owned by her longtime friend and protector Magda is violently murdered. Magda also happens to be a psychic who can contact spirits who have not yet crossed over to the afterlife.  Some spirits Magda can help move on towards their destiny.  But violent deaths becken the "keepers", those evil entities that feed on the trauma and consume the souls to turn the ghosts into evil poltergeists. 

Delilah is inherently good, yet the keepers are preying on her in much the same way her killer did, trying to take the last part of her humanity, her soul. Magda enlists a young man, Cross, to help find and kill Delilah's murderer so that Delilah's soul will be released to crossover.  Cross just happens to have psychic abilities also, he can see the physical bodies of ghosts and he falls in love with the enchanting Delilah's spiritual form.  They create an unholy love affair, man and ghost.  Magda's job just got more complicated to save her beloved friend and child of her heart. 

When I first began reading the book and grasped the true content of the story I must say I was turned off.  I just don't enjoy paranormal ghost stories.  However, the further I read into the story I saw several themes emerge.  Mourning loved ones and living through a healthy grief process was one.  In this story many of the characters did not do this, but Magda attempts to help them process and let go.  Embracing a person's life and memories while coming to terms with the loss is essential and the book Saint Delilah illustrates this theme in a complicated thought provoking  way.  Another theme I identified was "actions and consequences."  Every action in life can have a positive and negative consequence and a person must own their response to those actions.  

Spotts is a gifted writer, her characters are intense and well developed. Her writing is compelling, obviously, to hook me into a horror story which is a genre I do not enjoy.  She has a strong voice and excellent plotting skills.  

I hope she explores other genres because I'd like to read more of her writing, but probably won't be choosing another paranormal book.  Saint Delilah publishes August 11th, but I think Halloween would be the time to read this one if you are into creepy, scary literature.  I give Saint Delilah four stars.  It is well done. 

Thank you to Berkeley Publishing group, NetGalley, and Isabelle Spotts for the Advanced Reader's Copy of Saint Delilah in exchange for this honest review. 

#SaintDelilah #NetGalley 

Perfect Moments at Duck Pond Cottage by Della Galton

 We are now in the heat of the summer, and all things light and refreshing are desired. If you are looking for your next read,  then I would offer a new book being published by Boldwood Publishing on August 3,  2026 written by Della Galton.  Perfect Moments at Duck Pond Cottage fits the definition of a light summer escape. 

Galton creates a story that reads simply but involves the reader in a enjoyable set of friends and family that could very well emulate anyone's life.  The main character's; Jade  and Sarah are planning a double wedding with their fiance's Finn and Callum (respectively; along with their shared son between the two couples, Ben. Jade owns a pet rescue sanctuary where pet owners may surrender a pet and the sanctuary works to rehome the animal.  Jade accepts all types of pets which opens the reader to a rich cast of characters and circumstances.  Jade, Sarah and Finn come from complicated family backgrounds.  So Galton has many scenarios and plot lines to create stories from throughout the book.

In  Perfect Moments at Duck Pond Cottage , readers encounter wedding planning, lost pets, the events of meeting long lost estranged family, and rescues. Sprinkle in one temperamental chef,  a boisterous, well meaning son, some potty-mouth parrots and you have an entertaining summer read for a hot sunny day.  Galton has multiple books available to read in a few separate series.  

This is my first book read from the publisher, Boldwood Books, an independent, multi fiction award winning global publishing house.  Boldwood Books is located in the United Kingdom and represents many authors in all forms of publication.  Readers can find their books on major retailers such as Amazon and Barnes and Noble.  

If you are looking for a new light series check out Della Galton and read her newest release  Perfect Moments at Duck Pond Cottage   publishing soon! 

I received the Advanced Reader's Copy of  Perfect Moments at Duck Pond Cottage  by Della Galton and NetGalley in exchange for this honest review.  

#PerfectMomentsatDuckPondCottage 

#NetGalley #DellaGalton #BoldwoodBooks

Under The Falls by Richard Russo

 Pulitzer Prize winning author of the novel, Empire Falls, Richard Russo,  is releasing a new novel on August 11, 2026. The book, Under the Falls,  set in the fictional town of Stone Mountain, near the Adirondack mountains of New York state, features country music star Tyler Sinclair returning to his hometown for a benefit concert organized for a childhood friend.  Upon returning to Stone Mountain, Tyler finds that though his life and career has skyrocketed to wealth, fame, and accomplishments, the world he left behind has become stagnant with secrets and the tragic life he escaped when he left without even saying goodbye. 

Some of his friends are excited to see Tyler return to the mountain. But not everyone welcomes him home. At the benefit concert for Tyler's childhood friend "Doc" (who was paralyzed, becoming a paraplegic from a fall at the dam when they were boys) a riot breaks out. The crowd attacks Tyler and the band. When finally, he and his band can leave the town to go back down the mountain,  his limo is a forced off the road and down a steep embankment.  Tyler wakes up to find himself in the hospital with devastating news.  His band manager and the limo driver are dead, his body is broken and his voice, his music is gone.  He must put the pieces of his world back together and discover what secrets of the past have now corrupted his future. 

Under the Falls is a  true crime story embracing the fact that you can't run away from your past, you can only live with the consequences of your actions. 

Under the Falls is the first novel I have read by Richard Russo, and I am eager to discover his other works. That is one of the greatest gifts to a reader...more stories.  Finding a talented author with many prior books is like opening up a treasure chest of precious gems. So many wonderful writings to experience.  I was touched by the emotion he coaxed from his characters. How involved I became in their lives. On top of that, Russo's book was a page turner. It's pacing moved the story along expertly as if the reader was careening down the Stone Mountain with the story, barreling towards the climactic ending, eager to find out the fates of his characters and the world he created. 

I am rating Under the Falls four stars for excellence in storytelling and character development. I look forward to seeing how others respond to the book when it is published by Knopf Doubleday August 11, 2026.  Thank you to Knopf Doubleday, NetGalley and Richard Russo for the Advanced Reader's Copy of Under the Falls in exchange for this honest review.

#UndertheFalls. #NetGalley #RichardRusso

My Last Day by Michael Nohe

 If you found out today that you had only three months left to live, how would you choose to finish out your life here on this side of eternity?  This is the premise of Michael Nohe's book, My Last Day. 

Robert Sanctus, an multimillionaire stock trader living in New York City, is informed by two of the most renowned medical institutions that he has terminal cancer and only a couple months left to live. Rob chooses to not receive treatment for his condition and to die on his own terms. He begins a journal to catalog his last two days of his life.  During those two days as he reflects on his past and pursues to relish his fleeting existence. He comes across a man who panhandles him then precedes to attempt to mug him. Rob stands up to the vagrant and the man runs off only to return to Rob to apologize.  This sets off a series of events that shake Rob's grasp of his purpose during his last couple days.  He meets a nun, a priest, a bar owner and a homeless mother and child. His spirituality and christian beliefs are explored and he grapples with the questions - Is ending his life on his own terms an unforgivable sin? - and- What will he find God and heaven are  like when he dies? 

As with everything in the world, the old adage "Man proposes and God disposes" comes into play.  Rob learns that he must live until he dies.  

My Last Day is told through the main character's journal entries, with Rob, being the narrator of his writings.  In addition to this there is a foreward and epilogue written by his financial advisor. 

I wasn't certain when I chose this book to review, whether I would feel uplifted or depressed upon finishing it.  Thankfully I was encouraged and perhaps enlightened.  Nohe's book inspires the reader to consider how they are currently living their life. If they were gone tomorrow, what are they leaving behind? If you don't like what your legacy would be...can you change your path while there is still time to do so? Do events happen by coincidence or is it all a part of God's eventual path? 

My Last Day is a very quick read, only a little over 100 pages, but well worth the time.  I finished the book and have been mulling the themes and questions brought forth by the writer ever since.  

I think this book would be amazing to read with a friend or as a member of a book club.  After finishing the book, get together and share how you would live your last day, as an itinerary.  What would you do? What would you eat? Who would you talk to? What would you leave behind? 

I give My Last Day a rating of 5 stars! I would rate it higher if there were more stars to give it.  I plan on ordering it on Amazon so that I can share it with friends and family.  Thank you to Micheal Nohe for writing this thought provoking book, NetGalley for the reader's copy to review and BooksGoSocial for promoting small press authors and marketing them for greater impact in the book market.  You can find My Last Day by Michael Nohe on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Bookshop.org 

#MyLastDay. #MichealNohe #NetGalley

The Runner by Scarlet Thomas

 A jumbled mess, that's how I would describe The Runner by Scarlet Thomas.  I know that statement does not sound very kind, but while reading the book, I felt lost and confused through most of the story so this is the most accurate description that I could come up with.  

One of the hardest parts about being a professional reader is the statement, "I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review."  I strongly dislike writing honest reviews that are not complimentary to a particular piece of literature. Yet I say honest review so I must be honest.  Now I love most stories that I read.  I am a very openminded reader and do my best to find the good in each book. However The Runner  by Scarlet Thomas, felt like a disjointed plot with constant changes in scenes and characters that held little substance.  I never felt like I truly knew the main characters, Jay and Ellie.  The were surface characters that never grew to feel real to me.  

Now to say something positive about the novel, because I just have to, I liked the premise of the story.  Jay, is a runner who had a troubled childhood and found that running was one way he could build his self esteem. Through tragic circumstances he becomes the victim of being 'on the run' from assassins who have purchased a contract that was created using bitcoin on the dark web.  The contract had little value when it was created, but due to the nature of bitcoin, it was not cashed in for the past 15 years and has become a literal vast fortune in exchange for proof of his assassination.

Elle has the the contract on Jay but falls in love with him and doesn't want to kill him.

 Sounds like a really good story...but sadly it isn't.  It isn't executed well and I finished it feeling frustrated. The storyline ebbed more than flowed. I found no distinct climax to the story. There were too many tepid characters and nothing ever got overly exciting. I was relieved to finish the book. That being said.  I feel very sad to rate it with 1 star.  My only consolation is that after I post my feedback on the NetGalley website, I will not post this review on extra locations to keep the disappointment I have for the book to a minimum amount of damage.  

The Runner is being published November 3, 2026 by Simon and Schuster. I wish Thomas well with future novels even though this one missed the mark for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the advanced reader's copy of The Runner, by Scarlet Thomas in exchange for this honest review.

#NetGalley. #TheRunner

The One Who Walked Away by Karen Rose

 She was the only one who walked away from a terrible accident, killing three others. Would it have never happened if she had only walked away from her abusive husband sooner?  

In bestselling author Karen Rose's latest murder mystery, The One Who Walked Away, Elle Randolph, a former attorney turned bounty hunter finds herself as the center of a serial killer's obsession.  As the body count increases, she must rethink her work and life choices to help find the killer before another innocent is murdered.

Ronan Clarke, a Mendocino police detective has little patience for bounty hunters. Especially when they are hunting a skip through his jurisdiction. Yet in meeting Elle Randolph, he finds he may have a soft spot for a troubled soul.  After spending the last 15 years raising his daughter as a single dad, the smart, troubled bounty hunter reignites his desire for more than his daughter and his job.  But is falling for her the right thing to do when a serial killer that is somehow connected to her is attacking his community?

Rose's novel, The One Who Walked Away, is a fast paced mystery full of intrigue and emotion.  Rose entices the reader to ponder topics including survivor's guilt and victim's ownership of responsibility for events outside of their control.  As a reader I was surprised when I found myself stepping into her heroine's role, which illustrates how well written and developed her characters are.  I empathized with Elle, understanding her misguided feelings of responsibility for other's actions.  I felt anxiety when the tension of the plot tightened, and joy when the final event concluded. 

I believe one of the highest praises for an author is when the reader looks for additional titles they have written upon finishing the book.  I felt this way at the end of Roses's story, The One Who Walked Away.  I was impressed with her book and now I am anxious to read more of her work. I rate The One Who Walked Away with four stars. 

The One Who Walked Away by Karen Rose is scheduled to be published August 11, 2026 by Berkley Publishing Group.  I would like to thank NetGalley, Berkley Publishing Group and Karen Rose for the Advanced Reader's Copy in exchange for an honest review.

#NetGalley  #TheOneWhoWalkedAway

The Seance Garden by Juliet Blackwell

 Paranormal mysteries always intrigue me so when I was offered an advanced reader's copy of The Seance Garden by Juliet Blackwell, I jumped on the chance.

Professor Harper Grae needs a change of life after being denied tenure at her former University. As a historian specializing in the historical and societal significance of witchcraft, ghosts, and medicinal poisons of all sorts, being taken seriously by her colleagues has been a challenge. Harper ends up with a docotrate position at a university in Monterey California and it seems like the perfect opportunity to start anew. A dear friend from graduate school reconnects with Harper. After Harper loses a bet with her friend Tariq,  she must pay the price by going on a hokey ghost tour of Monterey.  Little did she know that she would be a part of digging up one of the tour's home owners who had been busied alive under a famous Cyprus tree. Harper then becomes tangled in a murder investigation that puts her historian's skills into use.  

Harper finds that she is "sensitive" to the supernatural entities involved in the mystery, and she becomes haunted by more than her nightmares as she works to find out what really happened to Delilah Mason and who else had been buried beneath the Cyprus tree at the Perles Mansion where Delilah Mason lived. 

Blackwell wrote an engaging novel filled with subtle creepiness that kept me involved with the story until the final page.  I continually felt I had solved the mystery, just to find out I was wrong once again.   Her characters were well written and came off the page into my imagination.  The setting was particularly fun for me because last summer my husband and I visited Monterey on vacation so I could picture many of the scenes. 

I enjoyed how Blackwell was able to build the intrigue of the plot as she built the suspicion in the reader's mind. I was surprised by the ending and happy I chose to read the book.  I give The Seance Garden 4 stars! 

Look for  The Seance Garden when it is published July 27, 2027 by Berkley Publishing Group.

#TheSeanceGarden #NetGalley

The Cloak and Dagger Club by Jackie McMahon

 A group of mystery writers meeting as a literary critiquing club, great idea! What could go wrong? Well...murder, Intrigue, deception, to just name a few.

Horace Hazelmoor, bestselling author of crime mysteries has created an elite club of fellow writers at London's The Ritz Hotel. Lucy Hubbard received a formal invitation from Horace Hazelmoor himself! She's finally made it, to be recognized and invited to Hazelmoor's club means her crime novels, her writing, Lucy herself are now literary successes. 

At her first meeting, she is introduced to the other writers, all invited by Horace and  publicly famous for their novels. Only one is a surprise to Lucy,  he is her childhood best friend and ex fiance, Frank. Their romance ended badly and now she must face him in his realm as part of the elite writers group. 

Horace meets up with Frank before the meeting and tensions rise. Horace has a habit of collecting secrets and using the information to his advantage. He has details on his writer's lives that would best remain hidden. Horace has found out information about Lucy and Frank and now has leverage over Frank as well.

Lucy's first meeting of the Cloak and Dagger Club comes at a cost when Horace Hazelmoor is found dead in his hotel room the following morning. Now,  every member of the Cloak and Dagger Club are suspects.  A regular crime mystery unfolds and the writers are unraveling the unwritten plot. Will Lucy and Frank remain estranged or will murder and mystery bring them together once again? Who actually killed Horace Hazelmoor?

Jackie McMahon does an amazing job of weaving plot and intrigue amongst the lives of her characters which creates a story with depth and emotion in her book, The Cloak and Dagger Club.  Her setting, 1930's London is rich with history and such a fun location to place her story.  I felt completely invested in the people, the story and McMahon's writing voice. The overall effect of her novel made it memorable and left me hanging on the whodunit until it was revealed at the very end.  As an avid professional reader, that's quite a feat.  I can usually solve the murder well before the end, not this one.  I was constantly guessing and I was consistently wrong.  That's the mark of a great writer, keeping the truth hidden until it is purposefully revealed. McMahon succeeds splendidly!

I rate The Cloak and Dagger Club five stars and recommend it to anyone who loves a great crime mystery!  

The Cloak and Dagger Club, is publishing on July 14, 2026 by Berkley Publishing Group.  Thank you to Net Galley and Berkely Publishing for the Advanced Reader's Copy of The Cloak and Dagger Club by Jackie McMahon in exchange for an honest review.

#NetGalley #TheCloakandDaggerClub

The Bureau of Unknown Fates by Gaëlle Nohant

 Choosing to read a novel based on the Holocaust is not easy for me.  I have read many, and I find them so important to read but also emotionally draining. I am a firm believer that we study history to illustrate the mistakes and atrocities of the past to hopefully be cognizant to not repeat them in the future.  The Bureau of Unknown Fates by Gaëlle Nohant is just such a novel.  

Irene, a french woman, is hired by the ITS, International Tracing Service, located in Bad Arolsen,a small German town that she moves to after marrying her German husband.  In post war Germany the ITS looks for displaced and missing persons following the Holocaust.  Irene becomes so engrossed with her job and the tragedies of war as she learns the stories and fates of the victims, that she divorces her husband just after her son is born. The estrangement occurs following an argument she has with his parents about their participation in German's WWII war crimes.  

Irene then spends her life being a single mother while researching and uniting families with fates of their loved ones from the various German concentration and death camps.  She becomes friends with survivor's families as she reunites both the people and the items left by them.  

Due to the topic, this is obviously not an easy book to read. Especially if you are an empathic sponge like I am.  I found Nohant's writing style read like a documentary. The accounts were less narrative and more investigative writing styled. Which makes sense due to the nature of the book.  Yet, Nohant pieced together her accounts with personal narrative from Irene's life. Illustrating how the tragedies of history's past effect generations to come. 

I found the book slow moving due to the detail and emotional accounts.  Like reading Elie Wiesel's Night, I had to take it in smaller doses.  

Yet, Nohant does a stellar job of making her fictional characters into human beings that a reader becomes emotionally attached to, I always feel this is the gift of a talented author. 

I recommend reading The Bureau of Unknown Fates by Gaëlle Nohant and rate it 4 stars. Look for it to be published by St. Martin's Press on December 8, 2026.  Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the Advanced Reader's Copy of The Bureau of Unknown Fates in exchange for this honest review.

#NetGalley. #TheBureauofUnknownFates