Book Review: The Woman at the Wheel, by Penny Haw

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

“I wondered if it would ever be possible for a woman to work alongside a man and be considered his equal partner.”

“Are you thinking of becoming an engineer and working with Carl?” she said, her eyes twinkling.

“No, of course not,” I replied, accepting how implausible it would seem to anyone to think of me as Carl’s partner in the workshop. Did that prohibit me from revealing how I shared his dream, though? If not, what was it that stopped me from telling Ava how important the motorwagen was to me, not just as Carl’s wife but as Bertha, the woman who was intrigued by ingenuity and the business thereof and who worked alongside Carl in the workshop whenever possible?

Bertha Benz was a wife and mother, and potentially a brilliant inventor who recognized the impossibility of a woman being recognized for her contributions. Sometimes it seemed even she herself didn’t believe how capable she might be.

Official synopsis:

"Unfortunately, only a girl again."

From a young age, Cäcilie Bertha Ringer is fascinated by her father's work as a master builder in Pforzheim, Germany. But those five words, which he wrote next to her name in the family Bible, haunt Bertha.

Years later, Bertha meets Carl Benz and falls in love―with him and his extraordinary dream of building a horseless carriage. Bertha has such faith in him that she invests her dowry in his plans, a dicey move since they alone believe in the machine. When Carl's partners threaten to withdraw their support, he's ready to cut ties. Bertha knows the decision would ruin everything. Ignoring the cynics, she takes matters into her own hands, secretly planning a scheme that will either hasten the family's passage to absolute derision or prove their genius. What Bertha doesn't know is that Carl is on the cusp of making a deal with their nemesis. She's not only risking her marriage and their life's work, but is also up against the patriarchy, Carl's own self-doubt, and the clock.

Like so many other women, Bertha lived largely in her husband's shadow, but her contributions are now celebrated in this inspiring story of perseverance, resilience, and love.

Not a lot of facts are known about Bertha Benz and her daily life with her famous husband, Carl Benz. The author of this historical fiction does a stellar job filling in the blanks of how spunky Bertha must have been, knowing about her substantial contributions to her husband’s invention, her shared passion for his motorwagen project, and their relationship.

The note of a truly enjoyable historical fiction might be the inability to separate the history from the fiction. Several of the side-stories of personal situations or social events lent this quality to the story of the life of Bertha Benz with Carl Benz. A few pieces of correspondence are featured through the story that give support to the facts of their life, and some relationships just fit with who the characters may have been when they weren’t being documented.

Overall, the story was so interesting and earned 4 out of 5 stars. It’s hard to imagine what life would be like without cars now, and reading the skepticism they encountered during its development was eye-opening. The book could be recommended for those who enjoy historical fiction, especially from the mid-1800s, and learning the stories of a powerful and inspiring woman.

{click here to purchase via my Amazon Affiliates link}

Becki Bayley is a wife and mother who enjoys reading, writing, and taking care of her family. Check out more of what they’re all up to on Instagram, where she posts as SweetlyBSquared.

Book Review: The Stranger Upstairs, by Lisa M. Matlin

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

I hate tea. I’m a coffee drinker. I smile wanly, looking around. I’ve never been in her office before. It’s orange and pink and has a child’s bedroom feel about it. It feels safe here, and my limbs slowly unclench. Emily plucks a stray hair from her skirt, and it flutters to the ground. “Dog hair,” she explains, grinning. “We’ve got three at home.”

“I have a cat,” I say dumbly. “Reaper.”

“Bet he’s easier to look after than three slobbering mutts.” She grins again and sips her lavender tea. “The kids want another, can you believe?” She shakes her head, but her eyes are shining. This is a woman who lives for her family, I can tell. A woman who goes home to a messy kitchen counter and a lounge room littered with toys, while tiny children tug at her skirt. She cooks dinner with the radio on as her oldest kids spray each other with the hose outside, and her husband plops a big kiss on her forehead on his way to the fridge for a beer. It’s always noisy, but she’s never felt more at peace. 

She plucks another hair off her skirt. “How’s your week been, Sarah?”

This is exactly how I start sessions, minus the errant dog hair. I balance my yellow notepad on my left knee. How’s your week been?

Sarah Slade becomes exactly who she wants to be in life. But lately, her new house and her husband are making it more challenging.

Official synopsis:

A therapist and self-help writer with all the answers, Sarah has just bought a gorgeous Victorian in the community of her dreams. Turns out you can get a killer deal on a house where someone was murdered. Plus, renovating Black Wood House makes for great blog content and a potent distraction from her failing marriage. Good thing nobody knows that her past is as tainted as the bloodstain on her bedroom floor.

But the renovations are fast becoming a nightmare. Sarah imagined custom avocado wallpaper, massive profits, and an appreciative husband who would want to share her bed again. Instead, the neighbors hate her guts and her husband still sleeps on the couch. And though the builders attempt to cover up Black Wood’s horrifying past, a series of bizarre accidents, threatening notes, and unexplained footsteps in the attic only confirm for Sarah what the rest of the town already knows: Something is very wrong in that house.

With every passing moment, Sarah’s life spirals further out of control—and with it her sense of reality. But as she peels back the curling wallpaper and discovers the house’s secrets, she realizes that the deadly legacy of Black Wood House has only just begun.

This story is primarily told by Sarah Slade, an amazing unreliable narrator. She’s a therapist and is sure to tell the reader how each of the people she talks about is crazy. She’s certain who to trust and who she already knows well enough not to trust. She is confident that she has her business together enough to fool them all.

There’s a deep, dark secret in the past she shares with her husband. She hints at it repeatedly, and is sure to say that by keeping the secret, she’s protecting her husband and their future together. But as all the pieces fall together, the reader can’t be sure if Sarah can even keep her own stories straight.

Sarah’s telling of things was interspersed with newspaper stories reflecting back on the current situations. By foreshadowing what the community would eventually find out, the reader could believe they knew a little bit of where Sarah’s story may go next.

The atmosphere in this thriller was chilling. Between the hateful neighbors, the past they’re running from, and the potentially haunted house, Sarah couldn’t be sure who to trust or where to turn. The book was engaging and earned 4 out of 5 stars. It could be recommended to those who like thrillers, potentially haunted houses, and unreliable narrators. 

{click here to purchase via my Amazon Affiliates link - currently 99c on Kindle Unlimited!}

Becki Bayley is a cat-lover and soda drinker who loves a good steak dinner. You can find her and her family on Instagram, where she posts as SweetlyBSquared.

Book Review: This Time Could Be Different, by Khristin Wierman

Guest review by Becki Bayley

Madeline’s feet pounded along the dirt path as Green Day’s “Horseshoes and Handgrenades” roared in her ears. She’d started running along this trail a few weeks before. But today she wasn’t paying attention to the sunlight cascading through the dark trees or the smell of fresh leaves.

“I think you might also want to examine how anger fits into your stories,” Olivia had said cryptically after they’d made no progress on Madeline’s issues with having what she wanted. Madeline had felt herself stiffen. “Anger can be scary.”

Madeline’s body tightened even more. “I’m not afraid of it.”

“Were you allowed to safely express anger as a child?” Madeline studied the sandbox. “Anger is information. Usually, to alert you that someone is invading your space somehow, forcing a story onto you that’s in opposition to who you really are.” Olivia seemed to pause to let that sink in. “When we’re allowed to express anger – when it’s allowed to move and we’re able to keep our story, our boundaries intact – the anger sails away, leaving us feeling lighter. When it’s trapped, it festers. And flares up at the smallest things.” Madeline continued to stare at the sand.

Madeline is truly exploring what she wants from her life, but Emma is also learning where she wants to be and what she’s willing to do to get there. 

Official synopsis:

A compulsive overachiever, Madeline lives by the credo that easy is synonymous with mediocre—which is why, at forty-nine, she’s a senior vice president at a prominent bank, frantically adheres to a five-step nightly face cream regimen, and panics anytime she’s a foot away from her phone. Madeline works alongside her best friend, Emma—a master juggler of her own career, marriage, and motherhood to a fourteen-year-old daughter who speaks only in baffling acronyms. The path ahead for both women is brimming with opportunity. There’s only one problem: Madeline is miserable.

Seeking purpose in her life while trying to unravel the source of habits she wants to change, Madeline reluctantly agrees to try yoga, meditation, and other wacky suggestions her new-agey therapist tosses her way. She feels as if she’s risking everything—but in doing so, she just might unlock a world more fulfilling than she ever could have imagined.

Madeline is admirably practical. She is the girl boss who is getting stuff DONE. And then she meets Rob, and he shows her she could be happy. Being as practical as she is, she recognizes that she does not know how to be happy in a relationship, and she enters therapy with Olivia. Best. Choice. Ever.

Emma has navigated both her career and a personal life. While working with Madeline for quite a while, she’s also gotten married and had a child. Now she strives to be a good mother, and still have a competitive career. As Madeline’s best friend, she thinks she has a better handle on her faults, but also wants her to be happy.

Olivia offers Madeline excellent (well, EXPERT) advice about reviewing her past, and rewriting the stories that set her expectations of life. Madeline is an excellent pupil and views therapy as something else to be successful at. 

The story could almost have been a memoir instead of fiction, and it was easy to imagine parts of the characters as recognizable people. The book earned 5 out of 5 stars. Even without Madeline’s traumatic past, her therapist’s advice seems like the sort that could improve anyone’s life. This engaging contemporary story is recommended for women (especially) who enjoy self-help stories, career vs family stories, and mostly happy endings. 

{click here to purchase via my Amazon Affiliates link}

Becki Bayley is a Gemini who enjoys crisp fall days, feeling the sun on her skin, and sleeping without an alarm waking her in the morning. Her dream job is not to need a job. Check out what she and her family are up to on her blog, SweetlyBSquared.com.

Book Review: Trouble the Living, by Francesca McDonnell Capossela

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

The Mississippi Man’s eyes were a glint of glass in the dark. Damon, I corrected myself. I knew it wasn’t right to call him whatever I wanted, like I was some kind of God.

His long, thin fingers extended a cigarette to me. I shook my head.

“Of course,” he said. “The director’s daughter doesn’t smoke.” The Ds rolling off his tongue, the dirtiest of letters.

“Not ‘of course,’” I said. “Not all daughters become their mothers.”

He looked out across the street, exhaled fumes like car exhaust. There was a piece missing from his nose, on his right nostril, like a chink in armor. I thought of Achilles being dipped into the River Styx by his heel, his only vulnerable part.

On the other side of the one-way street was a parking garage where the woman always waved away Mom’s money. But I knew that an ex-con, down on his luck, parking a borrowed car there before a job interview wouldn’t be as lucky. That’s how it always is; when you’re up, people raise you higher. When you’re low, they rub in the dirt.

Bernie knew that she and her mother only had each other. But how had she learned that at such a young age, and what if they even had secrets from each other?

Official synopsis:

It’s the final years of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, and Bríd and her sister, Ina, try to maintain a stable life in a divided country. Pushed by her mother’s fanaticism and a family tragedy, Bríd joins the IRA and makes a devastating choice. Frightened and guilt ridden, she flees, leaving behind Ireland and her family for America.

Years later, her guilt and tragic history still buried, Bríd is an overprotective mother raising her sensitive daughter, Bernie, in Southern California. Growing up amid a different kind of social unrest, Bernie’s need for independence and her exploration of her sexuality drive a wedge into their already-fragile relationship. When mother and daughter are forced to return to Northern Ireland, they both must confront the past, the present, and the women they’ve become.

As they navigate their troubled legacies, mother and daughter untangle the threads of love, violence, and secrets that formed them—and that will stubbornly, beautifully, bind them forever.

This was a beautifully told story of Bernie and her mother. While Bernie does not have any real stories about her mother’s past, and her mother answers Bernie’s questions differently each time, she knows her mother carries a deep sadness that likely drives her periodic bouts of incapacitating depression. Bernie has learned to recognize when it’s coming, work through it, and sometimes raise herself while trying not to cause any more worry for her mother.

Several current traumas for Bernie and her mother bring their real lives - and all their secrets—to light. In traveling back to Ireland and confronting Bernie’s mother’s past, they’re both forced to identify and learn who they truly are. It feels like little is known about the troubles in Northern Ireland except by those who were there, and then it’s all-consuming. This book gave a great portrayal of a family living through it.

This compelling family drama earned 4 out of 5 stars. It could be readily recommended to those who appreciate learning about other communities, parts of the world, and dramas involving family relationships and loyalties. 

{click here to purchase via my Amazon Affiliates link—currently FREE for Kindle Unlimited members}

Becki Bayley is a wife and mother who also shares on Instagram, where she posts as SweetlyBSquared.

Book Review and GIVEAWAY: The Good Bride, by Jen Marie Wiggins {ends 11/26}

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

Marcus nods then turns to Ruth, his voice light. “I know a lot of people have already asked you this, including myself, but I have to ask again. You’re absolutely sure what you saw out there – and you’d only had one drink. One glass of red wine?”

“Yes – but like I said – it was dark and the power went out. He was there…and then when the lights came back – he wasn’t.”

Everyone gets quiet and Marcus stares at Ruth as he waits, finally standing. “I’m sure I don’t have to say it, but technically, according to police procedure, you’re supposed to be my number one suspect. Last one to see him, last one at the scene…”

“What?” Ruth’s voice cracks. “Why would you say that? Why would I –” She looks around the room as it tilts.

Ruth and Teo are hoping to start their lives together with a beautiful wedding that can revitalize the little Gulf Coast town where Ruth and her sisters grew up. Kayla is happy for her wedding  planning business to get a boost after a hurricane has nearly destroyed the town.

Official synopsis:

One year after a devastating hurricane, bride-to-be Ruth Bancroft is marrying her perfect groom in a quaint fishing village on the Gulf Coast. The weekend is carefully curated, with the displays of pomp and social media magic meant to promote an area still struggling to rebuild as well as bring Ruth’s estranged family back together.

Yet as good intentions often go, this road to wed is hell and paved in complications. With tensions rising between the family and the bridal party, long-buried secrets come to light, and accusations start flying. Things officially spiral out of control when the oceanfront rehearsal dinner is rocked by a series of gunshots, and a high-profile guest goes missing. As the investigation gets underway, it turns out that everyone has something to hide.

This book is packed with plenty of family drama! From the obvious wedding, to a divorce, a pregnancy, and teen shenanigans coming back to cause complications, everyone has their own chaos to navigate even before a family member goes missing and is presumed dead.

Several of the characters know of each other since childhood, as happens a lot in a small town. While the current family drama of one of three sisters getting married in their hometown—which is still rebuilding after a hurricane—would be action enough, there’s also back-story with their estranged father, their wedding planner, and oh yeah, protests and politics surrounding the post-hurricane rebuilding.

The story is told from the perspective of each of the sisters, Ruth’s fiance, the sheriff, and the wedding planner. The varied viewpoints really show how everyone’s focus is different, and their secrets are coloring everything that is happening.

This was a fun story to untangle, and the epilogue was especially appreciated to tie things up. The book would be recommended for those who enjoy family dramas, small coastal town stories, and wedding planning. It earned 3 out of 5 stars.

{click here to pre-order via my Amazon Affiliates link - the book releases on 12/10/24}

Becki Bayley is a wife and mother who also enjoys providing joy for her family, reading, and eating chips with dip. See more of what she’s up to on Instagram, where she posts as SweetlyBSquared.

GIVEAWAY:

One of my lucky readers will win a copy of The Good Wife!

Enter via the widget below. Giveaway will end on Tuesday, November 26th, at 11:59pm ET, and winner will be notified via email the next day, and have 24 hours to respond, or an alternate winner will be chosen.

U.S. residents only, please.

Good luck!

The Good Bride, by Jen Marie Wiggins

Book Review and GIVEAWAY: Blindspot in America, by Elom K. Akoto {ends 10/23}

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

The days went by fast, and Kamao and Lindsey only had a week and a half left to spend in Ghana. Mama Agatha and one of her maids set up the breakfast table. Kamao was the first to join them just as they were finishing up. 

“Good morning, Mama,” he said.

“Good morning. Where is Lindsey?”

“She’s in the bathroom getting ready; you know how women are, taking their time.”

Kamao grabbed an apple from the fruit basket on the breakfast table, but Mama Agatha slapped the back of his hand. “Be a gentleman; I taught you better. Don’t you know how to be a gentleman and wait for your woman?” Kamao rubbed the back of his hand and quietly sat down, ashamed of himself.

“Why do you like Lindsey so much, Mama?” he asked after a moment of silence.

“She’s nice,” Mama Agatha said, still busy setting up the table.

“Her mother died when she was little. She had taught her well, from what she told me. But she was raised by her father after mother passed away.”

“Then her father had taught her well too,” Mama Agatha said.

Kamao is so basically good, but the world is trying to force him to accept that not everyone has such a kind heart and straight moral compass.

Official synopsis:

Kamao is the son of a prominent Ghanaian academic and incumbent minister of health and is devoted to all that America symbolizes. After immigrating to the United States in pursuit of higher education and the American Dream, he becomes unwittingly entangled with American politics when he meets Lindsey McAdams, the daughter of an influential, anti-immigration senator. As the couple’s feelings grow, so too does the senator’s animosity toward Kamao. Despite support from fellow immigrants Lazo, Ayefumi, and Dania—who follow American Dreams of their own—Kamao soon finds himself drawn into intrigues hidden from the American public that make him question himself and his adopted country. When Kamao is implicated in a murder, Lindsey’s loyalties are tested, Dania must decide if she is willing to risk her own future and security for the sake of justice, and Kamao discovers how far he’ll go to fulfill his American Dream.

Kamao has spent his whole life dreaming of living in America. When he finally is accepted to college and moves to begin his dream, his first roommate in his first week makes him question whether it’s meant to be. But he presses on, confident that most people are still good.

His optimism seems well placed going forward, as he meets a beautiful classmate, and they both fall swiftly in love. Unfortunately, his heart is too far gone when he realizes that Lindsey’s father is a renowned anti-immigration senator. In the way perhaps only young people have such unassailable confidence, they’re both sure their love can conquer all. 

While Kamao’s main interest is his happy life with Lindsey, he also continues to help others in the community of immigrants who have come to feel like his family in America. They all experience struggles, but their faith in the American dream never wanes. 

The prologue of the book tells readers that Kamao ends up in prison, but the story truly needs to be read to uncover how something so awful happens to such a good man. The book earns 4 out of 5 stars and serves as an amazing illustration of the struggles of life in America when one is in opposition to those with privilege. 

{click here to purchase via my Amazon Affiliates link}

Becki Bayley is the wife of a racecar guy and the mother of two amazing kids. See what they’re up to on her Instagram, where she posts as SweetlyBSquared.

GIVEAWAY:

One of my lucky readers will win a copy of Blindspot in America!

Enter via the widget below. Giveaway will end on Wednesday, October 23rd, at 11:59pm ET, and winner will be chosen the next day and notified via email, and must respond within 24 hours, or an alternate winner will be chosen.

U.S. and Canada residents only, please.

Good luck!

Blindspot in America, by Elom K. Akoto

Book Review: Malibu Burning, by Lee Goldberg

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

Three Weeks Ago

The blue Ferrari 488 Spider was the perfect car for taking the hairpin turns on Latigo Canyon Road, heading south into the Santa Monica Mountains toward the sea. But the Beverly Hills rental car company wouldn’t have been pleased knowing how fast and dangerously Danny Cole was driving on the two-late, ridge-line road, where one tiny miscalculation could send him plunging off a cliff.

Then again, Danny thought, they could hardly be surprised. Who rented a Ferrari with any intention of driving slowly? Nobody. The point of a Ferrari was to drive fast and be seen doing it, to express your daring, your virility and your wealth, which was exactly why he chose the car for the character he was playing today.

Danny Cole really found his calling in life as a con man. The good guys and the bad guys alike respect his plans and know he has much higher likelihood of success than most conmen or officers pursuing them.

Official synopsis:

Hell comes to Southern California every October. It rides in on searing Santa Ana winds that blast at near hurricane force, igniting voracious wildfires. Master thief Danny Cole longs for the flames. A tsunami of fire is exactly what he needs to pull off a daring crime and avenge a fallen friend.

As the most devastating firestorms in Los Angeles’ history scorch the hills of Malibu, relentless arson investigator Walter Sharpe and his wild card of a new partner, Andrew Walker, a former US marshal, suspect that someone set the massive blazes intentionally, a terrifying means to an unknown end.

While the flames rage out of control, Danny pursues his brilliant scheme, unaware that Sharpe and Walker are closing in. But when they all collide in a canyon of fire, everything changes, pitting them against an unexpected enemy within an inescapable inferno.

The way the pieces came together and the investigation used the strengths of veteran investigator Sharpe and experienced detective Walker was fascinating. Neither of them would have solved it single-handedly, and they both grudgingly came around to accepting that and becoming better partners for each other.

While Sharpe and Walker were the central characters who will keep this new series evolving, the other characters were also well-developed and engaging. Cole and his crew of bad guys were also interesting and unique. As a character-driven story with an intricate but thoroughly explained plot, this book earned 4 out of 5 stars. As an author, Lee Goldberg does not disappoint. The book could be enthusiastically recommended to those who enjoy thrillers, police procedurals, and California stories. 

{click here to purchase via my Amazon Affiliate link}

Becki Bayley is a wife and mother who enjoys reading and writing. Although it’s been a while, she also remembers a fondness for stitching and crafting. Check out what she’s up to with and without her family on Instagram, where she posts as SweetlyBSquared.

Book Review: The Reunion, by Kit Frick

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

ADDISON

It’s not until I’ve changed into my pajamas and settled in bed with the remote that it occurs to me to wonder how the frog got all the way beneath the sheets, which had been so carefully spread up by room service. I’m not scared of frogs; I think they’re cute. But there was definitely a momentary freak-out, before I realized what was moving. Was someone trying to scare me?

If so, it had to be one of my cousins. No one else has a key to this room. 

Then again, anyone could have slipped a key card out of one of our beach bags and used it for a few minutes. The room’s been empty since Mia went next door and Natalia went down to the hot tub, and before that, it was probably unoccupied for most of the afternoon.

My eyes travel to my phone, still facedown on the nightstand, then to the closet door, envisioning the laundry bag at the back, the wooden cigar box tucked inside. Has someone on this trip figured out that I’m hiding something? Is someone intentionally messing with me?

Everyone at the Mayweather’s reunion/engagement party has secrets that are vital to them, but most of them are so busy protecting their own interests that they’re misjudging the rest of their family.

Official synopsis:

Eleven Mayweathers went on vacation. Ten came home.

It’s been years since the fragmented Mayweather clan was all in one place, but the engagement of Addison and Mason’s mom to the dad of their future stepbrother, Theo, brings the whole family to sunny Cancún, Mexico, for winter break. Add cousin Natalia to the mix, and it doesn’t take long for tempers to fray and tensions to rise. A week of forced family “fun” reveals that everyone has something to hide, and as secrets bubble to the surface, no one is safe from the fallout. By the end of the week, one member of the reunion party will be dead—and everyone’s a suspect:

The peacekeeper: Addison needs a better hiding place.

The outsider: Theo just wants to mend fences.

The romantic: Natalia doesn’t want to talk about the past.

The hothead: Mason needs to keep his temper under control.

It started as a week in paradise meant to bring them together. But the Mayweathers are about to learn the hard way that family bonding can be deadly.

Addison and Mason (the twins) have a secret with Natalia which permanently fractured the trio they thought could withstand anything until three years ago. Natalia’s little sister Mia just wants everyone to have a good time! Besides being a reunion trip, they’re also supposed to be welcoming Austin and Theo to the family. Austin is marrying Addison and Mason’s mother, and Theo is the same age as Addison, Mason, and Natalia.

The formatting of the story was interesting, with some chapters told as flashbacks from different characters, interspersed with news announcements and interviews from after the mysterious death that essentially ends the book (except for the epilogue).

Some of the revelations at the end were a little too succinct, and some parts gave more questions than answers. Overall the book earned 3 out of 5 stars and would definitely be recommended to those who like a tangled thriller, family drama, and somewhat unpredictable characters.

{click here to purchase via my Amazon Affiliates link}

Becki Bayley is a reader and a writer. She enjoys making plans, spending time with her family and friends, and making progress on big projects. See what they’re up to on her Instagram, where she posts as SweetlyBSquared.

Book Review and GIVEAWAY: The Hedgerow, by Anne Leigh Parrish {ends 10/9}

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

She came home exhausted to find Henry reading, listening to the radio, or drinking and playing solitaire. Alistair wasn’t due back for another week and Edith had been preparing their meals. She’d arranged for their laundry to be picked up at the apartment – Alistair usually dropped it off weekly at a place a few blocks away. She asked for groceries to be delivered, too. She just didn’t have time to shop.

That Henry was useless in domestic matters was no surprise. All his life other people had handled things for him. Even in London during the war he’d had Alistair. But she was infuriated that he expected her to put in hours at the store and then wait on him at home. He said he was happy for them to dine out every night until Alistair returned. She said she didn’t always want to go out. Sometimes, it was nice to stay home and put her feet up.

“You’re right, poor dear. Let me make you something. I’m sure I can find my way around the kitchen well enough,” Henry said.

Edith seems to have gotten herself out of one marriage that wasn’t a good fit only to be falling into another.

Official synopsis:

In the long-awaited sequel to Anne Leigh Parrish's An Open Door, Edith Sloan navigates life after leaving her dull, demanding husband, Walter, for Henry, a well-off British peer. The bookstore she owns on Harvard Square, The Turned Page, thrives under her management, and prospects for a publishing venture take shape. As 1949 comes to an end, and with her sights trained on a new decade, Edith struggles with stifling social conventions, unreliable men, and an unforeseen circumstance that might ruin everything.

While the book is a sequel, it was easy to read and understand without the previous story details. Edith is in the middle of her divorce from Walter, and co-habitating nicely with Henry, the man who bought a bookstore for his then-wife and Edith to run together. The wife soon returns to England, but Edith is only too happy to keep overseeing the bookstore alone. 

Edith and Henry may be a little more than friends while living under the same roof, but she’s always been very careful not to mislead him—she does not love him and doubts she ever would. Eventually he confesses that he knows this, but still wants her to be his wife anyway. She decides she sees no good reason not to accept his proposal.

Unfortunately, none of the characters were very likable, and the choices they made were making them even less likable as the book went on. It was a generally pleasant read, and would be enjoyed by those who might appreciate Henry and his butler’s British background or fiction based in the late 1940s in the U.S. Overall, the book earned 3 out of 5 stars.

{click here to purchase via my Amazon Affiliate link}

Becki Bayley likes reading, napping, and looking at 50s styles. Check out what else she’s been up to on her blog, SweetlyBSquared.com.

GIVEAWAY:

One of my lucky readers will win a copy of The Hedgerow!

Enter via the widget below. Giveaway will end on Wednesday, October 9th, at 11:59pm ET, and winner will be notified via email the next day, and have 24 hours to respond, or an alternate winner will be chosen.

U.S. residents only, please.

Good luck!

The Hedgerow, by Anne Leigh Parrish

Book Review and GIVEAWAY: The Witch's Secret, by Stacie Murphy {ends 10/2}

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

Peter took me into Denver City on Christmas Eve. We left at first light, wrapped in buffalo robes against the frigid air, our breath making clouds of mist as the mules plodded along under the brightening sky. We made far better time riding than if we’d brought the wagon and reached town by midday.

From the look of things, every rancher and miner in the territory had come into Denver City for the holiday. The streets were jammed, and as we turned into Wazee Street I worried Bonnie might not have a room for me. There hadn’t been any way to tell her I was coming, and with so many people in town, the temptation to rent out her spare room might have been too much to resist. 

But she looked pleased to see me when I arrived, smiling from across the front room, her hands full of plates. She put the dishes in front of a pair of men at a corner table, then stopped for a moment to speak to a plain-faced young woman wiping up a spill from one of the long trestle tables before making her way over to me.

“Joya! You made it.”

Joya Shaw has had her magic bound and been sent out west after using a forbidden spell. What she had found out, though, was bigger than her own relationships. Not all witches are using their power for good.

Official synopsis:

After using a forbidden spell to wring a confession from her faithless lover, young witch Joya Shaw finds herself stripped of her power and banished to the magical backwater of the Colorado Territory.

But it is 1862, the American Civil War is raging, and going west doesn’t mean leaving the battlefields behind. When Joya arrives at a homesteader’s cabin and discovers the occupants savagely slain, she knows it is no mere murder: traces of demon magic cling to the bodies. When a Union patrol is later wiped out the same way, Joya begins to suspect that someone is trying to create a new weapon for the rebel arsenal.

She gambles that thwarting the plot could be the key to ending her exile. But demon hunting is a dangerous game, and it’s all too easy for the hunter to become the prey. Trapped, Joya enters into an uneasy alliance with a demon. She must find a way to free herself or bend its power to her will. If she fails, she will forfeit not only her life, but also her soul—along with the chance to stop the tide of the war from turning in an unspeakable direction.

Joya starts out trying to do right and serve her time gracefully. A visit to the city reunites her with the ranger who escorted her to her new home, and introduces her to the rest of his special family. Their warm welcome encourages her to return when she can, and her loyalty to them has her wanting to use her magic again to help them.

Unfortunately, evil is already running amok before she arrives. When she notices what’s going on, she does not realize the damage has already started. Without her powers, can she really prevent the destruction of those she’s grown to love?

This was a great historical fiction book with a believable portrayal of the Colorado Territory and how a whole population of witches may be incorporated and involved in the Civil War. The story was well told and earned a high 3 out of 5 stars. It could be recommended to those who like witchy stories and U.S. historical fiction.

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Becki Bayley is a wife and mom who also enjoys reading, Legos, and hanging out with her kids. See what else they’re up to on her blog, SweetlyBSquared.com.

GIVEAWAY:

One of my lucky readers will win a copy of The Witch's Secret!

Enter via the widget below. Giveaway will end on Wednesday, October 2nd, at 11:59pm ET, and winner will be notified via email the next day, and have 24 hours to respond, or an alternate winner will be chosen.

U.S. residents only, please.

Good luck!

The Witch's Secret, by Stacie Murphy

Book Review: Sammy Espinoza's Last Review, by Tehlor Kay Mejia

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

The next morning, I awake with one more plan and zero more texts than I had the night before.

Letting my Max situation and my Paloma situation collide the other night left everything horribly tangled, I can see that now. But now that I know, I vow as I ease reluctantly out of bed, I will separate the threads. Today, I’ll deal with Paloma. Tomorrow, I’ll deal with Max.

And by “deal with him” I mean say goodbye. Brook was right last night – this whole thing has gotten completely out of control. It’s laughable to think I could still be objective about Max’s music after everything that’s happened between us. And trying to be objective about the music of someone I have romantic feelings for is what got me into this mess in the first place.

Sammy is not only finding out who she might have been, she’s learning to fill those roles even as they keep changing.

Official synopsis:

Sammy Espinoza’s life is a raging dumpster fire. Her desperate attempt to win back her singer ex-girlfriend has landed her in hot water at work, and she has one last chance before her editor cuts her column. Luckily, Sammy has a plan to redeem herself, but it won’t be easy.

Rumor has it that Max Ryan, the former rock god, is secretly recording his first-ever solo album years after he dramatically quit performing. And it just so happens that he and Sammy have history: Right before Max got his big break, he and Sammy spent an unforgettable night together.

Exclusive access to Max’s new music would guarantee Sammy’s professional comeback and, even better, give her the opportunity to serve some long-awaited revenge for his traumatic ghosting.

But Max lives in Ridley Falls, Washington, and Sammy has history there as well: a family that never wanted her and a million unanswered questions. Going back would mean confronting it all—but what else does she have to lose?

The book starts with Sammy Espinoza returning to the closest thing she ever had to a hometown, with her tail between her legs. While her best friend is still there, along with the beloved parents of her friend that she lived with for a year, the rest of it isn’t anything she ever missed. So she’ll swoop in, get the interview she needs to continue her career as a music journalist, and be gone again before anyone notices. Of course, these sort of plans never go as expected.

The story could have progressed as a completely predictable contemporary romance and drama, but the developments for a couple of the characters were largely unexpected. Even Sammy started out somewhat annoying, while letting herself be just a side character in a lot of her own life. She did what she had to in order to keep getting by, but it frequently felt like she was just filling a role and trying to appear happy.

By the end, this fun summer read earned 4 out of 5 stars. The characters ended up enjoyable while still realistic and the plot twists kept this reader engaged. This book could be recommended to those who like found-family dramas, contemporary romance, quirky characters with unique careers, and just a bit of music life and partying memories.

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Becki Bayley is a wife and mother of two kids who will hopefully attain a level of success that will help them support her in the manner to which she would like to become accustomed. See what they’re all doing in the meantime on Instagram, where she posts as SweetlyBSquared.

Book Review and GIVEAWAY: Not What She Seems, by Yasmin Angoe {ends 8/13}

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

Mama put the wooden spatula she was using to scramble the eggs onto the spoon holder. “Thank you, Jac,” she said without warning.

I tore my attention from the trickles of dark-brown liquid from the drip coffee pot – no Keurig here; I wanted to be like a true barista. “It’s just coffee, Mama.”

“For last night. It was lovely. And I think people are learning to be kinder to you now. Which is good. I don’t like how it’s been.”

A bout of guilt washed over me, twisting my insides, because I knew what I was about to do. This gratitude, this rare moment when everything was just right between Mama and me, would die an ugly death the minute I stepped foot into the police station. But I had the best intentions. I always did. I hoped Mama would eventually come to realize that.

Small towns like to label people in specific roles and leave them there. Jacinda was a murderess, and Faye was the town’s new savior. What if people no longer fit in their molds?

Official synopsis:

After years of self-exile, Jacinda “Jac” Brodie is back in Brook Haven, South Carolina. But the small cliffside town no longer feels like home. Jac hasn’t been there since the beloved chief of police fell to his death—and all the whispers said she was to blame.

That chief was Jac’s father.

Racked with guilt, Jac left town with no plans to return. But when her granddad lands in the hospital, 

she rushes back to her family, bracing herself to confront the past.

Brook Haven feels different now. Wealthy newcomer Faye Arden has transformed the notorious Moor Manor into a quaint country inn. Jac’s convinced something sinister lurks beneath Faye’s perfect exterior, yet the whole town fawns over their charismatic new benefactor. And when Jac discovers one of her granddad’s prized possessions in Faye’s office, she knows she has to be right.

But as Jac continues to dig, she stumbles upon dangerous truths that hit too close to home. With not only her life but also her family’s safety on the line, Jac discovers that maybe some secrets are better left buried.

The way the author introduces us to Jacinda, she is definitely not an example of responsibility or good choices. She’s in the process of changing her entire future while getting well-deserved revenge on an ex. If these are the impulsive sort of decisions she acts on, it’s easy to imagine her doing something similar to make her unwelcome in her hometown.

When Jac returns to her hometown after so long, she expects to still not be welcomed or accepted. The townspeople have long memories and still think she’s responsible for her father’s death. People are polite, as she’s there grieving the loss of her granddad. Jac and her granddad liked to try and solve old crimes together with some of his online friends, and she’s suspicious when she sees the scene of his heart attack. She wonders if it could actually be the scene of a crime.

While a lot of what Jac does is not well thought-out, her history makes it hard for others to believe that she is usually trying to do the right thing. As a sort of underdog, she isn’t very likable, although the title of the book felt like it was more about the unknown Faye, who moved into town after Jac left and is marrying the mayor. Faye has done good things for the community and everyone wants the mayor to be happy, so most people aren’t looking for anything to be less than perfect.

The story was engaging and earned 3 out of 5 stars. It would be an enjoyable book for those who enjoy contemporary mysteries, small town stories, and characters with surprising pasts.

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Becki Bayley is a wife and mother who likes reading, writing, and spending time with her family. When she’s not reviewing books, you might find her appreciating theatre in many forms. See what she’s been up to on Instagram, where she posts as SweetlyBSquared.

GIVEAWAY:

One of my lucky readers will win a copy of Not What She Seems!

Enter via the widget below. Giveaway will end on Tuesday, August 13th, at 11:59pm ET, and winner will be notified via email the next day and have 24 hours to respond, or an alternate winner will be chosen.

U.S. and Canadian residents only, please.

Good luck!

Not What She Seems, by Yasmin Angoe

Book Review and GIVEAWAY: Holliday, by Matthew Di Paoli (ends 7/30)

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

In Tombstone, the leaves had all turned canary, complementing the grass, which had burnt beige. Evergreens swayed in the distance, and the mountains loomed ash and golden like the clouds. It was mid-October and the weather finally dropped below eighty. The rotten stench of politics lingered in the air as Garfield made his final push against Hancock. Doc never voted because he always felt like he lost no matter who got elected. Still, he admired Garfield’s beard. It reminded him of a fashionable lady’s pubis.

Having been released under Wyatt’s supervision, Doc decided to pay Joyce a visit on his sickbed. He was holed up with his wife and a doctor in his house. Outside teetered a curlicue metal fence that Joyce had probably built himself. From his craftsmanship, thought Doc, it wouldn’t matter much if he had one hand or two. Doc could see Joyce on the bed through the dirt-caked window, so he climbed over the knee-high fence and knocked on the glass.

John Henry Holliday never meant to be a legend. He just was doing what he needed to do to get by while he searched for the miraculous fountain that would cure him of consumption.

Official synopsis:

Holliday follows the infamous 1880s gambler, dentist, and gunslinger, Doc Holliday. From the outset, Doc has been diagnosed with tuberculosis and is told to head to dryer climates and imbibe to prolong his life. He has also heard of a spring located somewhere along the frontier that could cure him—what he believes to be the mythical Fountain of Youth. The novel portrays Holliday as a rock star, a living legend, increasingly hounded by paparazzi, enamored by death, cards, booze, and women. Doc is a mixture of Clint Eastwood and Jim Morrison, and though he is able to help his friend, Wyatt Earp, exact revenge, his condition worsens, traveling from Arizona to Denver, and finally dying in a sanatorium in Colorado with his boots off. A slow and unfitting end for such a bombastic outlaw.

This was such an interesting read! The story starts some time after Doc Holliday left his childhood home in Georgia, where he buried his mother and caught the same consumption which killed her. His father, new step-mother, and love Mattie remained, but Doc was told to go to a hot, dry climate, and he hoped to find the fountain that could cure him. 

The author, in a unique twist, offers delightfully varied musical selections intended to go with each short chapter of the story. And his musical tastes sound pretty varied: Nine Inch Nails, The Killers, The Rolling Stones, The Doors, Modest Mouse, The Pixies, and Kings of Leon, just to name a few. While the music is definitely a great addition, the book is obviously readable without it, too.

Overall, the story and the way it was told were engaging and entertaining, which was also enhanced with lots of potentially recognizable side characters. The book earned a high 3 out of 5 stars and would be enjoyed by those who like westerns and history from the era.

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Becki Bayley is a wife, mom and theatre supporter Some of her favorite (non-musical) shows have included Radium Girls, Ashland Falls, and She Kills Monsters. See what else she’s been up to on Instagram, where she posts as SweetlyBSquared.

GIVEAWAY:

One of my lucky readers will win a copy of Holliday!

Enter via the widget below. Giveaway will end on Tuesday, July 30th, at 11:59pm ET, and winner will be notified via email the next day and have 24 hours to respond, or an alternate winner will be chosen.

U.S. residents only, please.

Good luck!

Holliday, by Matthew Di Paoli

Book Review and GIVEAWAY: The Radcliffe Ladies' Reading Club, by Julia Bryan Thomas (ends 7/24)

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

During her weeks at home, Merritt thought a great deal about book club and Alice Campbell, whom she had already come to admire. It was a daring and exciting prospect to have a business of one’s own, especially a bookshop. It seemed an ideal place to work. Merritt daydreamed about it from time to time, having no idea what she would eventually do with her life. She loved painting and drawing and was in fact good at it, but her passion for art couldn’t possibly support her and it was time to think seriously about what she could do that might. The alternative was succumbing to the pressure to get married and start a family. Personally, she was somewhere on the spectrum between Evie and Tess: not boy crazy like the former, but not impervious to love like the latter. However, she was certain of one thing: she was not ready to settle down with one man and raise his children, certainly not before she was twenty years old.

Tess, Caroline, Evie, and Merritt quickly became a pretty tight-knit group when they arrived in their adjoining rooms at Radcliffe, but they soon discovered there may be more differences than similarities between them, except for their privilege in attending college as women.

Official synopsis:

Massachusetts, 1954. With bags packed alongside her heavy heart, Alice Campbell escaped halfway across the country and found herself in front of a derelict building tucked among the cobblestone streets of Cambridge. She turns it into the enchanting bookshop of her dreams, knowing firsthand the power of books to comfort the brokenhearted.

The Cambridge Bookshop soon becomes a haven for Tess, Caroline, Evie, and Merritt, who are all navigating the struggles of being newly independent college women in a world that seems to want to keep them in the kitchen. But when a member of the group finds herself shattered, everything they know about themselves will be called into question.

When Tess enters Alice Campbell’s bookshop and grabs the flyer for her new fall book club, the new members don’t know how much Alice’s thought-provoking book choices will help the girls discover more about who they are and want to be. Whether the four new friends join to be a part of the group and belong, or to actually enjoy literature they may never have been exposed to at their childhood homes, there are always lessons to be learned from the books and from their relationships with the other girls and Alice.

Christmas break is what really precipitates the changes in the girls; either through going home and getting a reminder of where they’re from and who they were, or through the traumatic event for one of the girls that will soon affect them all. The book became an irresistible page-turner once everything started changing after their holiday break.

This story would be best enjoyed by those who enjoy reading about the evolution of women’s rights and experiences in the 1950s, as well as a classic story about a book store, which is always loved by so many readers. The book earned 3 out of 5 stars and would be a fun and distracting summer read as well.

{click here to purchase via Amazon Affiliates link - 35% off this week due to Prime Day/Week!}

Becki Bayley enjoys quiet, new cocktails, time to relax, and accomplishing items on her to-do list. See some of her adventures on Instagram, where she posts as SweetlyBSquared.

GIVEAWAY:

One of my lucky readers will win a copy of The Radcliffe Ladies' Reading Club!

Enter via the widget below. Giveaway will end on Wednesday, July 25th, at 11:59pm ET, and winner will be contacted the next day via email and have 24 hours to respond, or an alternate winner will be chosen.

U.S. residents only, please.

Good luck!

The Radcliffe Ladies' Reading Club, by Julia Bryan Thomas

Book Review and GIVEAWAY: Jackie, by Dawn Tripp {ends 7/22}

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

We talk about Eleanor Roosevelt’s funeral the week before. I mention the piece I read by James Baldwin in The New Yorker, “Letter From a Region of My Mind.” We talk about Thanksgiving plans, the children’s birthday parties, Palm Beach at Christmas. We talk about the opening of the Mona Lisa at the National Gallery in January. Jack laughs when I tell him that, every night, I dream of that painting heading toward us across the Atlantic.

The evening air is cool against my face. I’ve found a piece of land where we can build in Middleburg, Virginia, on Rattlesnake Mountain – acres of rolling hills and field, a dizzying stretch of expanse looking out outward the Blue Ridge Mountains.

“We have Glen Ora,” Jack says.

“We only rent that. This will be ours. The house will be modest, I promise.”

He rolls his eyes.

“And when it’s finished,” I say, “we’ll call it Wexford.” Wexford is the name of his family’s ancestral land in Ireland. I can tell it makes him happy I’d suggest that.

Jackie was always true to herself.

Official synopsis:

The world has divided my life into three:

Life with Jack

Life with Onassis

Life as a woman who goes to work because she wants to.

My life is all of these things, and it is none of these things. They continue to miss what’s right in front of them. I love books. I love the sea. I love horses. Children. Art. Ideas. History. Beauty. Because beauty blows us open to wonder.

Even the beauty that breaks your heart.

Jackie is the story of a woman—deeply private with a nuanced, formidable intellect—who forged a legacy out of grief and shaped history even as she was living it. It is the story of a love affair, a complicated marriage, and the fracturing of identity that comes in the wake of unthinkable violence.

When Jackie meets the charismatic congressman Jack Kennedy in Georgetown, she is twenty-one and dreaming of France. She has won an internship at Vogue. Kennedy, she thinks, is not her kind of adventure: “Too American. Too good-looking. Too boy.” Yet she is drawn to his mind, his humor, his drive. The chemistry between them ignites. During the White House years, the love between two independent people deepens. Then, a motorcade in Dallas: “Three and a half seconds—that’s all it was—a slivered instant between the first shot, which missed the car, and the second, which did not. . . . A hypnotic burst of sunlight off her bracelet as she waved.”

This vivid, exquisitely written novel is at once a captivating work of the imagination and a window into the world of a woman who led many lives: Jackie, Jacks, Jacqueline, Miss Bouvier, Mrs. Kennedy, Jackie O.

Truly enjoyable historical fiction reads like fiction, with a cohesive plot and compelling character development, and facts blended into the entertainment. Jackie definitely fulfilled all of the criteria. Without necessarily knowing which anecdotes were factual and which were created from knowledge of Jackie’s life, everything led to the development of Jackie from a young single girl making monumental decisions about how her life would go, to marrying JFK and contributing her insights to his political career and presidency, to her marriage to Aristotle Onassis, and finally her choices to continue the path of her life as she wanted to, regardless of the public’s expectations based on her previous relationships and persona.

The story also gave a glimpse into other well-known figures, like Joe (JFK’s dad) and Bobby (his brother), as well as potential impressions of other historical figures like Martin Luther King Jr.’s family and the Clintons. Overall, the book was both educational and enjoyable and earned a high 4 out of 5 stars. The book would be a good read for history buffs or fans of fiction from the era.

{click here to purchase via Amazon Affiliate link}

Becki Bayley is a wife and mother who likes just getting by. Reading is a great way for her to relax and escape, without leaving home. Check out what she’s up to when not reading on Instagram, where she posts as SweetlyBSquared.

GIVEAWAY:

Enter via the widget below. Giveaway will end on Monday, July 22nd, at 11:59pm ET, and the winner will be notified via email the next day, and have 24 hours to respond, or an alternate winner will be chosen.

U.S. residents only, please.

Good luck!

Jackie, by Dawn Tripp

Book Review and GIVEAWAY: Walk the Dark, by Paul Cody {ends 7/1}

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

Maybe I was eleven by then. I think I was eleven.

We were still living in the first-floor place with the big rooms, and for a while I went to middle school, for sixth grade, and the school was four or five times bigger than Fall Creek Elementary, where I had gone, briefly, before.

Mother still had quite a few boyfriends, and she still drank and took pills. Sometimes she gave me a pill or two, and sometimes she’d say that pills were bad for me, and for a week or a month she wouldn’t give me any.

But she was out of the house, for hours, or now and then, for days. I’d look through her closet and her dresser, and the brown plastic bottles with the white caps were always in the small top drawer on the right. Five or ten bottles and they were mixed in with her underwear. All that silky stuff that made me nervous.

Oliver knew his life wasn’t like other kids, but he was getting along okay. 

Official synopsis:

Oliver Curtin grows up in a nocturnal world with a mother who is a sex worker and drug addict, and whose love is real yet increasingly unreliable. His narration alternates between that troubled childhood and the present of the novel, where he is serving the last months of a thirty-years-to-life sentence in a maximum-security prison in upstate New York, for a crime he committed at age seventeen. His redemption is closely allied with his memories, seen with growing clarity and courage. If he can remember, then life in the larger world is possible for him.

Oliver’s life didn’t sound like the life most readers experience. He was mostly raising himself, as his mother, who he called in turns Margaret, Maggie, Peg, or Mother, was busy with her boyfriends or her addiction. One long-time friend of his mother’s, Mabel, stepped in sometimes to fill some gaps, but that still didn’t bring his life anywhere near something familiar to most. 

The fluid naming of his mother gave another window to Oliver’s perception of her—it felt like he never knew what to expect any more than we did. His flashbacks to childhood really told of the unstable and unpredictable nature of his life as he grew older. Prison is the first time that Oliver has things expected of him, and he seems to adjust adequately to the new environment.

The book ends with many questions, primarily about the other transient characters in Oliver’s story. While the book is fiction, the characters and emotions were so well written that they were undeniably engaging, and readers are left wondering what happened for everyone else next. This compelling story of Oliver’s life earned 4 out of 5 stars. It’s a beautifully told non-traditional family drama.

{click here to purchase via my Amazon Affiliate link}

Becki Bayley is a wife and mother who enjoys reading, writing, and working with her kids to pursue their joy. See where this is currently headed on her blog, www.SweetlyBSquared.com.

GIVEAWAY:

One of my lucky readers will win a copy of Walk the Dark!

Enter via the widget below. Giveaway will end on Monday. July 1st, at 11:59pm ET, and winner will be chosen the next day and notified via email, and have 24 hours to respond, or an alternate winner will be chosen.

U.S. residents only, please.

Good luck!

Walk the Dark, by Paul Cody

Book Review: The Nature of Disappearing, by Kimi Cunningham Grant

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

Emlyn takes a shower. She brews herself a cup of tea. She picks up her library book and tries to read. She wanders back to the bathroom and combs her long hair, still wet.

What just happened? Did Janessa, in a matter of five minutes, completely convince Emlyn to stop seeing someone? A person she’d felt a real connection with. Who maybe liked her, too. And she’d barely pushed back; she’d hardly resisted. Her word swims to her. Pathetic. She stares at herself in the mirror and sees that she is frowning, eyes narrowed. She looks like her mothers.

Tyler was right. Since that first meeting at Bumpy’s Diner, Janessa has always called the shots. She decides where they go on a Friday night, what they eat, what they drink. She sets the tone. And Emlyn has gone along with it. But she thinks of her swim with Tyler, the stars glittering overhead, the feel of his lips on her forehead, and for the first time, she doesn’t want to go along with Janessa’s plans.

Emlyn is used to not getting what she wants, and settling for what she gets. After starting her life over again without her college friend, Janessa, or the man she thought may be the grand love of her life, she isn’t sure that she should risk it all helping the two of them again.

Official synopsis:

Emlyn doesn't let herself think about the past.

How she and her best friend, Janessa, barely speak anymore. How Tyler, the love of her life, left her half dead on the side of the road three years ago.

Her new life is simple and safe. She lives alone in her Airstream trailer and works as a fishing and hunting guide in scenic Idaho. Her closest friends are the community's makeshift reverend and a handsome Forest Service ranger who took her in at her lowest.

But when Tyler shows up with the news that Janessa is missing, Emlyn is propelled back into the world she worked so hard to forget. Janessa has become a social media star, documenting her #vanlife adventures with her rugged boyfriend. She hasn't posted lately, though, and when Emlyn realizes the most recent photo doesn't match up with its caption, she reluctantly joins Tyler to find her old friend. As the two trace Janessa's path through miles of wild country, Emlyn can't deny the chemistry still crackling between them. But the deeper they press into the wilderness, the more she begins to suspect that a darker truth lies in the woods―and that Janessa isn't the only one in danger.

Emlyn has found herself pretty content in her new life. She was rescued from the side of the road, near death, and nursed back to health by the members of a close knit community who make most of their living off of the tourists and the forest. She quickly finds her skills make her an excellent fishing and hunting guide.

When her past comes back, she isn’t sure if she should help out, but she knows things are unlikely to end well otherwise. She consults with Rev, whose great insight with people could give her answers, but Rev of course can’t give her clear answers of what she should or should not do. Emlyn reluctantly tries to help the two people who practically turned their backs on her. 

Emlyn and the characters from her past were so clear and engaging. While they started out seeming like they’d all be close forever, they each had their secrets even then. Their stories when they all meet up again are suspenseful, especially with the addition of a character who was never mentioned in their earlier lives. The unpredictable story earned 4 out of 5 stars and would be great for those who enjoy outdoorsy stories and thrillers.

{click here to purchase via Amazon Affiliate link}

Becki Bayley is a wife, reader, and mom of humans and cats. When she’s not reading, you can find her enjoying activities with her family including theater, band, and flower gardening. Check out their fun on Instagram, where she posts as SweetlyBSquared.

Book Review: Corpse & Crown, by Alisa Kwitney

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

People often made the mistake of thinking that just because Justine Makepiece was paralyzed, she was a sweet, childlike waif, as pure of spirit as she was in body. They walked into her room and saw her delicate pale face – the only part of her visible inside the metal cylinder that was her prison and her lifeline – and thought of her as a lucent, disembodied mind.

Yet even though she spent most of her day lying prone in an artificial breathing machine, listening to the rhythmic pulsing of a vacuum pump, Justine was far from being some angelic creature. Untouched, yes. Innocent, no. After a mysterious childhood illness left her with weak lungs and wasted legs, Justine’s father had become obsessed with curing his only child. 

Back in her old room at Ingold, her father kept her isolated in an attempt to protect her from any possible breath of miasmic air. As the head of engineering, Professor Makepiece had invented the negative pressure ventilator that helped his daughter breathe. For at least twenty-one hours out of every day, she had to lie inside the metal canister that forced air in and out of her lungs. There were only a few hours each day she could spend on the outside, free to sit up, use her arms, and speak to people without staring up their nostrils.

Agatha DeLacey is a poor probationer nurse who is studying nursing at Ingold’s East End hospital in London. She definitely is not in the same social circles as Professor Makepiece and his family, but she and Justine end up with some friends in common.

Official synopsis:

Agatha DeLacey’s family isn’t rich or titled, so studying nursing at Ingold’s East End hospital in London is a rare opportunity for her. Despite the school’s focus on the innovative Bio-Mechanical program, Aggie cares more about the desperately poor human patients who flood the hospital, even if that means providing unauthorized treatment after-hours…and trusting a charming, endlessly resourceful thief.

But the Artful Dodger is barely a step ahead of his underworld rivals, the menacing Bill Sykes and mercurial Oliver Twist, and Aggie’s association with him soon leads her into danger. When a brutal attack leaves her blind, she and the Dodger find themselves at the mercy of an experimental Bio-Mech surgery. Though the procedure restores Aggie’s sight, her new eyes come at an unnerving cost, and the changes in Dodger are even more alarming—instead of seeing Aggie as the girl he fancies, he now views her as a potential threat.

As war between England and Germany brews on the horizon and a sinister medical conspiracy threatens to shatter the uneasy peace in Europe, Aggie and the Dodger must find a way to work together so they can protect their friends and expose the truth…even if it means risking their own survival.

While this was the second book in the series, after Cadaver & Queen, it read fine as a standalone. There were a couple references to events from the previous book, but enough detail was given to make events in this book understandable.

Aggie DeLacey knows her position as a probationer nurse is wholly dependent on the approval of her supervisor. As long as she continues showing an aptitude for what she’s learning and keeps the favor of those in charge, she can avoid returning to her mother’s house. Ensuring the favor of those in charge has also come to mean keeping their secrets, as the Ingold East End hospital is also serving as a research hospital for bio-mechanicals, but they of course don’t want the community to know about it.

The book was a fascinating combination of historical and speculative fiction, culminating with a bio-mechanical battle between the creations of Germany and England under Queen Victoria. It was a fun young adult read that would be enjoyed by those who enjoy historical fiction or speculative fiction, also described as "Victorian-era fiction with a steampunk flair." It earns 4 out of 5 stars from me.

{click here to purchase via my Amazon Affiliate link}

Becki Bayley is a reader who enjoys a variety of genres of books and loves to let her mind escape to other words. See more of what she’s read or done on her blog, SweetlyBSquared.com.