The Night Hunter
by Natalie Moss
The Night Hunter by Natalie Moss (6/2/2026)
Natalie Moss spent much of her childhood in South Africa. Thus, it is natural for her to choose the beauty and danger of the vast nature preserves there for her debut novel.
After their mother's death two sisters re-unite to trek through the jungle to her home. Do they really know this mother who put conserving animals and leading safaris ahead of her family obligations? As adults to the sisters really know each other.?
The young women are accompanied by 3 friends and a guide who may not really be friends. What does the letter from their mother ordering them to "burn everything" mean.
There are many twists and turns as the group survives hunger, thirst, being lost and murders before reaching the mother's compound. It seems no place and no one is safe.
Somebody Worth Killing
by Jessica Payne
Somebody Worth Killing by Jessica Payne (4/19/2026)
Nadia only seems to be a normal wife and mother. She is also an assassin for hire. She only kills bad people. She loves her job until her next contract is to kill her husband.
I loved the twists and turns in this book. The author kept me guessing with every page.. And then the story just stopped with a happy ending but with more issues unsolved than answered. As much as I loved reading the book the end disappointed me. Do I have to buy another book---------
An Infinite Love Story
by Chanel Cleeton
An Infinite Love Story by Chanel Cleeton (3/18/2026)
It's the 1960's and the American space race is beginning. Test pilots are dedicated and passionate to be involve. Their wives not so much. The astronauts are enjoying the notoriety and glamour. The wives have long lonely days and even longer fearful nights.
This novel highlights the struggle and courage of these women who did not expect to be in the limelight or having to live up to NASA expectations.. The faced the dangers their husbands disregarded. The women's courage was in supporting their husbands' dreams while wishing space would go away..
What happens when tragedy takes place in training or in space? These brave women gather and go on.
The Young Will Remember
by Eve J. Chung
The Young Will Remember by Eve J Chung (3/8/2026)
The Korean War is raging. War correspondent Eleanor Chang is American born with parents from Taiwan. The medi-vac plane she is traveling in is shot down i North Korea and attacked. She escapes into the countryside. Eleanor is rescued by local family. Together they all struggle to find a safe haven away from the South Korean. North Korean and American armies. Their goal is to reach Japan.
The winter weather is brutal, food and shelter scarce and people to trust are rare. They are able to muddle through communicating speaking Japanese, Korean, Chinese and English .As they walk the forbidding terrain promises are made. Promises are kept.
This is a look at the Korean culture and the story of civilian chaos during a war none of them wanted. I am recommending it to my public library and other readers I know.
Boring Asian Female
by Canwen Xu
Boring Asian Female by Canwen Xu (2/26/2026)
Boring Asian Female is so very well written I feel guilty for wondering why I read this sad depressing story. Written in the first person Elizabeth has no self worth, no self esteem during her high school and college years. Super smart she is obsessed with attending Harvard Law School.. When the School rejects her application Elizabeth begins to unravel. Begins lying, cheating manipulating everyone and everything to get Harvard to reconsider.
Even with a WOW ending the book made me uncomfortable. Maybe that is what the author intended..
Fireflies in Winter
by Eleanor Shearer
Fireflies In winter (1/18/2026)
A reader who truly loves books I sometimes wonder if authors simply change the names of characters and locations and rewrite the same story over and over.
Eleanor Shearer has written an original story. She tells the piquant tale of 2 young black women in1796 Halifax as they find answers to the questions: what is friendship, what is love, what is freedom, who is free.. Cora and Agnes survive the harsh winters and eagerly await the return of the humpback whales in the spring.
While the book is fiction it has historical background. Free black people from Jamacia did try to settle in Canada.
I was delighted to be unable to predict the progress and ending of this novel.. You will be too.
Everything Lost Returns: A Novel
by Sarah Domet
Everything Lost Returns by Sarah Domet (1/6/2026)
Usually I am a fast reader but this book took forever for me to read.. Perhaps because I realized the ending in the early chapters and nothing surprised me. This is the story of 4 women: Opal, Bertie, Haley and Nona. And yes, the chapters alternate between characters and between time lines. The Earthshine Soap Company 1910--1986 is what connects the women.
I was disappointed that the story was so predictable. I did not see this as "poignant and utterly original as the book jacket promised..
The Secret Lives of Murderers' Wives
by Elizabeth Arnott
Secret Lives of Murders Wives by Elizabeth Arnot (12/6/2025)
This book was not what I expected. It was not a tale of living with serial killers but the story of 3 wives of killers who joined together to solve a new series of killings. The shame, humiliation and shock of realizing they were married to killers gave them a shared purpose. Two plot twists saved the book from being ordinary
When We Were Brilliant
by Lynn Cullen
When We Were Brilliant (10/19/2025)
I always have a problem reading fiction based on real people and events. Instead of enjoying the book as written I wonder what is real and what is not. That said I did find this story so well researched and the writing exciting that I enjoyed every page.
The story explores the relationship between Marilyn Monroe and Eve Arnold The events in Marilyn's life and Eve's are both true and the dialogue is interesting and probable. Marilyn's short life was a search for respect and love Eve was searching for acceptance and success as the first female photojournalist. Their friendship sustained them when their successes came at a great cost.
We who knew of Marilyn have memories. Those who did not will learn of his icon's sad and lonely life.
This Here Is Love: A Novel
by Princess Joy L. Perry
This Here Is Love (7/27/2025)
In her novel Princess Joy L Perry makes readers believe her characters are real people. Real people she knows and loves as family and friends.
In 1619 Jack sails to America with his family and other indentured people. He has hope. Odofoley sails to America on a slave ship. She has no hope .Both grow up struggling to find love and security.
Their stories are told in alternating chapters .As the years pass and the number of people entering their lives increase so do the number of chapters. .Chapters were titled with the names of the people in the episode. I admit I often had to pause "now who are these people".
Princess Joy's beautiful writing set me in a place and with feelings I did not expect. Each reader will have to decide if there are any happy endings.
Angelica: For Love and Country in a Time of Revolution
by Molly Beer
Angelica (5/27/2025)
This book is more than the biography of Angelica Schuyler Church, Colonial daughter, wife and mother... It is more than a history of the Revolutionary War battles. It is a treatise on the role of women in the male dominated society of this era
The men in Angelicas family are all wealthy and influential. The women are maternal and "charming". Angelica had hopes that this new government would give some rights and status to women so was dismayed when it did neither.
The well written book is filled with details of daily living and quotes made by the founding fathers. The author caused me to stop and rethink my ideas of these revered men and their Declaration. I am recommending it to all the women in my life.
Ordinary Love: A Novel
by Marie Rutkoski
Ordinary Love (4/5/2025)
Many readers will be offended by this story, others will have questions and some will be happy this tales is being told.
Emily and Gen knew each other in school, became best friends and lovers in high school. As is expected in college years they moved into different paths. Gen became an Olympic athlete. Emily married Jack. Years later Emily takes her 2 children and divorces. Also to be expected Gen comes back into Emily's life. Can they rekindle the past?
The author delicately shows the feelings of love and uncertainty in her characters. I am not sure Ordinary Love is an apt title for this book. Neither the love of Emily and Jack nor the love of Emily and Gen are ordinary..
Making Friends Can Be Murder
by Kathleen West
Making Friends Can Be Murder (2/18/2025)
Seven women all with the same name of Sarah Jones meet and bond. They identify each other by using their age "so as not to be utterly confused." Seventeen is the youngest and 69 is the oldest..
Wait, what if one of them is only pretending to be a Sarah Jones. Why is the FBI already searching for her. We have 7 Sarahs, 1 imposter, 2 FBI agents and , of course, a murder and a romance..
I thought the common name was an unique idea but found keeping track of who was who by the numbers was utterly confusing. I am, surprised the author kept everyone in her place. There was not much of a mystery as I quickly spotted the imposer and the murderer and saw that once again true love found its way.
I was a bit disappointed in the book because the first chapter offered so much which was not delivered. Read this book if you want any easy fluffy story.
Songs of Summer
by Jane L. Rosen
Songs of Summer (1/9/2025)
This is a delightful book, not a boring page in it. Maggie May has always known she was adopted. She is 30 years old when she and Jason, her childhood forever friend, decided to search for her birth mother, Beatrix has not spoken to her sister for 30 years.
Matt and Dylan are both 30 years old, friends from childhood. They are wondering if there relationship will change now that his mother is marrying her father.
Sounds chaotic I know, but this author skillfully weaves these characters.
A surprise for literature today this book has an ending, actually solves all the issues and relationships. The frequent references to song lyrics almost makes the book feel like a musical.
Jane and Dan at the End of the World
by Colleen Oakley
Jane and Dan At the End of the World (11/19/2024)
In my 86 years I have read thousands of mystery/thriller books. This plot is so original and clever I read it start to finish in one day. Jan and Dan go to an exclusive posh restaurant to celebrate their anniversary.. Before they can order a group of young thugs enter and take all of the diners hostage. Who are they and why? Even the ending is unexpected. To tell more would ruin the experience for all readers.
It was so much joy to read Jane and Dan I plan to read more by its author, Colleen Oakely.
Happy Land
by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Happy Land (10/24/2024)
I loved the story and characters of this book. The Civil War has ended. The KKK is rampant. A group of freed people trek to remote Appalachia. They establish a communal village based on the laws and leadership of the African communities they were forced to leave. They call it Kingdom of Happy Land because all are happy.. They work hard. They prosper. They purchase land. They lose the land. It was a male dominated society until little by little it wasn't..
The story is told by Luella, one of the original settlers (1875) and by Nikki a present time great granddaughter. Nikki is amazed to learn the family history she never suspected but sets out to attempt to correct the wrongs.
Even readers who are not historical history buffs will enjoy these interesting characters. Perhaps while we are being entertained we will all take a moment to reflect on how our past affects our present..
In the Garden of Monsters: A Novel
by Crystal King
In the Garden of Monsters (8/4/2024)
I don't think I should be reviewing this book. It is totally out of my reading genre. If you love or even just like Greek/Roman mythology this is the book you want to read.
Imagine Salvador Dali in Italy's Garden of Monsters to re-create the story of Persephone and Hades in his artwork. The result is a tale of myth, mystery, magic , even a bit eerie and romantic.
Follow the Stars Home
by Diane C. McPhail
Follow The Stars Home (5/1/2024)
This was a delightful read. The author, though, has me confused. In her preface she states that the story is a work of fiction, all names, places and events products of her imagination. Reading the bibliography of her research she has given the characters names of real people. I do hope this to be based on a true story.
It is 1811, steamboats are untested. Nicholas Roosevelt and his wife, Lydia Latrobe Roosevelt, have designed and built a steamboat fitted to carry passengers and cargo. This boat is the first to attempt sailing the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, Pittsburgh to New Orleans.
Lydia relates how her family's journey met the challenges of fire, Indians, earthquake and "doubters" to change water travel forever.
The Funeral Cryer: A Novel
by Wenyan Lu
The Funeral Cryer (3/21/2024)
In The Funeral Cryer no one has a name, just an occupation.The middle age woman telling her story is a paid professional hired to cry and sing at funerals in her Chinese village. I suffered with her as she struggled questions "who am I":, "does anyone love me". Though she found some answers nothing changed in her life. We were both saddened that her journey ended just as it began.
The House on Biscayne Bay
by Chanel Cleeton
Familiar plot (12/12/2023)
This book was a quick, easy read. with just a bit of a twist at the end. Tells the story of 3 women who have lived in the same Florida mansion... As I read I kept thinking "another house book"... Another book with chapters alternating characters and story lines. Felt like I had read this book before..
