Book Review: Touch of Gold, by Annie Sullivan

Guest review by: Becki BayleyRoyce takes his seat in the boat opposite me.“Did you get everything we needed?” he asks Phipps as though he hasn’t just left a man behind to die.“Aye, Captain,” Phipps says. He pats the massive amount of sail filling up the majority of the longboat....

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Book Review: No One Knows Us Here, by Rebecca Kelley

Guest review by: Becki BayleyLeo wanted me to show him the knives myself, but we needed someone to open up the display case with a key. He went to find someone and returned with…Margorie. I felt heat rise up my face, all the way up to my ears.Margorie approached the case, her...

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Book Review and GIVEAWAY: Calico, by Lee Goldberg {ends 12/11}

Guest review by: Becki Bayley Friday, February 8, 2019 Beth met Selma Neary, head of the San Bernardino County historical society, in her office at the county museum in Redlands. The tiny office was filled with books, overflowing from sagging shelves...

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Book Review and GIVEAWAY - Kassandra: A Tale of Love, War, and One Woman's Destiny: A Novel of Ancient Greece, by Alison Blasdell {ends 12/7}

Guest review by: Becki BayleyNikias and Kassandra strolled through Athens until they reached the city’s south edge. Then Kassandra indicated they would walk southwest. They passed through several small farms until they came to Despina’s farm. Nikias looked around.“Olive trees?...

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Book Review: Distant Sons, by Tim Johnston

Guest review by: Becki BayleyViegas pulled up in front of the house and shut down the car and sat a minute in the dark, watching the downstairs windows. The curtains were not drawn and she could see the play of firelight on the far wall of the living room, on the paintings hung...

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Book Review and GIVEAWAY: Curious Tides, by Pascale Lacelle {ends 11/16}

Guest review by: Becki BayleyIt started with an oath.Keiran handed her a small silver flake like the one she’d seen Virgil imbibing earlier. An Unraverler synth, he explained. It’ll force you to tell the truth when swearing your oath.A distant, drowned-out part of her had a...

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Book Review: For Girls Who Walk Through Fire, by Kim DeRose

Guest review by: Becki BayleyBea was surprised to find that, despite casting her revenge spell, she’d yet to reduce her anxiety or remove him from her life. If anything, in a weird way, it felt as if he’d been drawn in closer.Her mom now talked about him all the time, updating...

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Book Review: Kill for Love, by Laura Picklesimer

Guest review by: Becki BayleyI soon had to put aside the changing dynamics of the sorority house for other practicalities. Weston’s birthday was only two weeks away. Mine wouldn’t arrive until August, and it sucked that his would come so soon after we had started dating. We...

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Book Review and GIVEAWAY - Happy AF: Simple strategies to get unstuck, bounce back, and live your best life, by Beth Romero {ends 10/22}

Guest review by: Becki BayleyWhile the pen may be mightier than the sword, it looks like the Polaroid out-champs the ballpoint—at least from a neuro-scientific perspective. Pictures speak far more effectively to the brain’s subconscious than language. Images can bypass the cerebral...

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Book Review and GIVEAWAY: Glory Be, by Danielle Arceneaux {ends 10/19}

Guest review by: Becki BayleyThe town of Scott, Louisiana, hadn’t changed much from the days Glory and Amity would run around town in scuffed Mary Janes and starched pinafores. No one had bothered to tear down the defunct cotton gin, the gray metal building that stood on stilts...

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Book Review: The Key to My Heart, by Lia Louis

Guest review by: Becki BayleyToday is one of those classic, airless summer days that turn London into a raging furnace and morph every resident into a grumpy expert on historical architecture. These buildings were just not built for these temperatures. No tiles, no air-con!...

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Book Review and GIVEAWAY: The Better Half, by Alli Frank and Asha Youmans {ends 9/28}

Guest review by: Becki Bayley“Hey Jasmine,” I say, giving a big hug to one of my favorite seniors before I head up the bleachers to where I see Roan and Marisol have already claimed spots. With R-H letters in kelly green and rose red adorning her cheeks, and a pile of ribbons...

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Book Review and GIVEAWAY: The Museum of Failures, by Thrity Umrigar {ends 9/28}

Guest review by: Becki BayleyHe had invited Gulnaz to lunch today and she, too, was wearing a sweater. At twenty-two degrees Celsius – seventy-two degrees Fahrenheit, Remy’s phone had told him – he was delighting in the weather, happy to be escaping the harsh Ohio winter. But...

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Book Review and GIVEAWAY: The Taken Ones, by Jess Lourey {ends 9/26}

Guest review by: Becki BayleySmall, one-of-everything stores used to be the heart of a town. Not any longer. Most of the neighborhood shops had dried up and disappeared, replaced with great, impersonal box stores, or even worse, grocery delivery where you didn’t need to exchange...

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Book Review and GIVEAWAY: The President's Wife, by Tracey Enerson Wood {ends 9/16}

Guest review by: Becki BayleyOn a sunny Sunday at the end of March, Edith and Woodrow took a drive down to Mount Vernon. George Washington was Woodrow’s hero and most important role model, and he wanted to consult with his spirit.“You have your Ouija board, I have this.” He...

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Book Review and GIVEAWAY - What It Cost Us: Stories of Pandemic and Protest in DC, by Shout Mouse Press Young Writers {ends 9/9}

Guest review by: Becki BayleyThe Storm, The Rainbow, and Valentina - Back in the DayMy abuela taught us not to give up. She was born in the same pueblito as me. Her parents had nine babies and she was the only baby girl my bisabuelos had. We lived with her in Mexico and she...

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Book Review: Jane Doe, by Victoria Helen Stone

Guest review by: Becki BayleyI gasp as Steven pulls into his driveway. “Oh my God, what a beautiful yard!”“Thank you.” The garage door rises and I see that the garage is perfectly clean, tools hung on walls and shelves neatly lined with boxes.“Everything is so pretty. And it...

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Book Review and GIVEAWAY: The Stockwell Letters, by Jacqueline Friedland {ends 8/22}

Guest review by: Becki BayleyANTHONYBoston, June 1854The guards gave Anthony a new suit that morning. After so many days wearing the same rank outfits all the time, he was glad for something clean to put on. And the clothes they gave him were fine. The only time he saw Black...

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