Book Review and GIVEAWAY: The Den, by Cara Reinard {ends 1/1/23}

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

On her drive home, Valerie phoned Luke. The flutters that erupted in her chest when her fingers scrolled over his number were annoying. Get it together.

“Hey, I was just going to call you,” he said, his voice gruff.

“Good. I was thinking we should probably get security for Father’s hospital room.” She remembered that she really needed to stop and see her mother soon. She wasn’t even sure if Mother knew about Christian’s accident yet. She should text Marian and find out. Lucy’s accusations about Mother revealing the changes in the trust early had rattled Valerie.

Who else could Mother have told? Valerie had known about the trust for a while, but back then it’d seemed insignificant because both of her parents had been relatively healthy, and in the old disclaimer, the children could collect on it only after both parents had passed. Even though she’d been the only one who usually visited Mother, the others could have stopped by to see her too.

The Fox siblings weren’t what anyone would call close to each other, but the time has come to find out if they actually hate each other enough to kill for a bigger inheritance.

Official synopsis:

Nothing brings the four Fox siblings together like their detestable father’s heart attack—and a hefty inheritance to be divided equally. At his deathbed is his oldest daughter, Valerie; her irresponsible sister, Lucy; and their two embattled brothers, Christian and Jeremy. Even the former housekeeper, Marian, who’s been with the family for forty years, is on watch. All Valerie hopes for is an amicable reunion, despite the damages of the past.

By punishing means, Stefan Fox raised his children to be competitors. The cruel lessons now serve them well in a game of life and death. When it comes to the family fortune, the rules are simple: fewer siblings means a bigger share.

After a suspicious accident, Valerie knows the worst is yet to come—and confiding in the wrong person could be the most dangerous thing she’s ever done.

 

The book opens with someone being dragged, already beaten and bloodied, through the woods. Before the reader finds out who it might be, the author flashes back to the family home, where all four siblings have reunited with their parents—and all of the family business’s clients. None of the siblings seem happy to be there, but they all accept it as one of the responsibilities in the wealthy family to which they belong.

 

The catastrophes follow quickly—a heart attack, a car accident, and then suspicions of murder! An announcement at the attorney’s office of a new distribution of the family wealth in case the patriarch dies has everyone looking over their shoulder and wondering who the next victim might be.

 

The story moved quickly with lots of unexpected twists before the end. The book deserved 4 out of 5 stars as a thrilling family drama. It could be recommended to those who enjoy rich family stories with mysteries and complicated relationships and histories.

{click here to purchase—currently free for Kindle Unlimited users!}

 

Becki Bayley enjoys reading, making plans, and spreading kindness. She tries to remember to post a few photos of life on Instagram as PoshBecki.

GIVEAWAY:

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

Enter via the widget below. Giveaway will end on Sunday, January 1, 2023, at 11:59pm EST, 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 Den, by Cara Reinard

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Book Review and GIVEAWAY: The Great Tree, by Able Barrett {ends 12/28}

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

Just as the sun was setting, Nicholas could see the outline of the Great Tree in the distance. He began to remember the nightmare he had been having since he was a young boy. It made him sad and angry, even without the knowledge of what was happening to Andrew inside the castle.

When he reached the castle, he parked the carriage and quickly entered the castle with the Great Black Wolf. He heard Andrew’s voice in the great hall.

Nicholas entered the great hall, worried about what he was going to find.

Andrew is in search of his brother Nicholas, who was taken when they were just young boys. He may not succeed, but he had to try to fulfill their mother’s dying wish.

Official synopsis:

A young man, Andrew and his older brother Nicholas were separated long ago. Andrew is now trying to find Nicholas even against his mother's wishes driven by her fears of what he will face in his quest. Andrew wants to tell Nicholas their mother is dying and he must see her one last time before she passes. Andrew and his dog Jenny begin a journey or even a better word would be crusade, which takes them well beyond their wildest imagination into the world of danger, evil protectors, giant wolves, dark magic, Sorcerers, Goblins, and the Prince of Darkness himself all centered around an enormous tree. This is story that blends the magic of how Christmas evolved for eternity. It is a story for the whole family including children, young people and adults of all ages will enjoy this fable in the same way we all have enjoyed other great Christmas stories of the past, but this is a thrilling and exciting story to how Christmas came to be today!

Andrew has been traveling for a while when he comes across a town with a view of the Great Tree and frightening evil sorcerer’s castle. He quickly makes friends with a young brother and sister who lead him to a room for the night, to rest for the final leg of his journey.

It doesn’t take long before Andrew is on the right path to finding the brother he has missed for most of his life. But there are still more battles for good to triumph over evil, happily-ever-after to win, and several Christmas traditions to be explained.

Overall, this story was a quick read, good for most ages. The story was 3 out of 5 stars, with likable characters and a satisfying ending. 

{click here to purchase}

Becki Bayley is a wife and mother of two. When she’s not reading, she enjoys taking care of her family, cuddling with her cats, and indulging in chips and dip. Check out the photos she posts on Instagram as PoshBecki.

GIVEAWAY:

*Five* of my lucky readers will win a copy of The Great Tree!

Enter via the widget below. Giveaway will end on Thursday, December 28th, at 11:59pm EST, and winners will be notified via email on December 29th, and have 24 hours to respond, or an alternate winner(s) will be chosen.

U.S. residents only, please.

Good luck!

The Great Tree, by Able Barrett

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Book Review and GIVEAWAY: Island Time, by Georgia Clark {ends 12/22}

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

The first thing Jules had been focused on missing while stranded on Mun’dai was Matty’s first IUI appointment. The second was her own birthday, the coming Friday. She’d be turning sixty-one on Mun’dai, which, all things considered, wasn’t a bad place to celebrate another trip around the sun. 

“It’ll be a full moon on Friday,” Ludmila remarked. “And high tide at just after seven p.m.”

Mildly confused as to why Ludmilla knew the tide times for a date days away, Jules asked what she meant.

Ludmilla looked at her like she was a bit slow. “Maybe a good night for a party?”

A party! A moonlit swim, dinner outside, firepit at the Barefoot Bar. It’d be nice to do something as a family, considering the last time they did was the infamous ballroom-dancing-dentist Games Night.

A tropical vacation sounds fabulous, but six weeks on a tropical island might not be as glorious as it sounds if it isn’t the trip you planned. 

Official synopsis:

The Kellys are messy, loud, loving Australians. The Lees are sophisticated, aloof, buttoned-up Americans. They have nothing in common…except for the fact that their daughters are married. When a nearby volcano erupts during their short vacation to a remote tropical island off the coast of Queensland, the two families find themselves stranded together for six weeks.

With only two island employees making up the rest of their party, everyone is forced to question what—or who—they really want. Island Time is a sumptuous summer read that dives deep into queer romance, family secrets, ambition, parenthood, and a bird-chasing bromance. This sexy, sun-soaked paradise of white sandy beaches, crystal-clear waters, and lush rainforest will show you it’s never too late to change your destiny.

Amelia is hoping that her superior organization of this trip, and the fabulous man who will be joining her, will bring her to the spotlight as an important adult family member. She thinks that she has left nothing to chance, but the trip is soon nothing but chance! With most of the group living in the one guest house left standing, she may be destined to be the kid on the couch yet again. 

Matty and Parker are using this little vacation as a stop over between the years they’ve lived in New York, to their new life and parenthood in Sydney. Nothing may ever be the same again, but are they both sure that’s what they want? While it would have been easy to overlook the parents of the girls, the author gave them their own individual and relationship trials, and the story could have gone so many different ways!

Overall, the rich characterization of the unexpected island dwellers made them all likable and frustrating in turn. The book earned 4 out of 5 stars and would be recommended for those who like vacation stories, family drama, and love relationships at all their stages. 

{click here to purchase - currently free for Kindle Unlimited members!}

Becki Bayley is a Tina Turner fan who enjoys snack foods, bubbly drinks, and reading while cozy under her weighted blanket. Find out more of what she reads at her blog, SweetlyBSquared.com.

GIVEAWAY:

One of my lucky readers will win a copy of Island Time!

Enter via the widget below. Giveaway will end on Thursday, December 22nd, at 11:59pm EST, and winner will be emailed the next day and have 24 hours to respond, or an alternate winner will be chosen.

U.S. residents only, please.

Good luck!

Island Time, by Georgia Clark

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Book Review and GIVEAWAY: The Innocent One, by Lisa Ballantyne {ends 12/6}

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

As he approached the bar and restaurant where Rene had asked to meet him, Daniel slowed his pace, trying to shake off his mood. He thought about Sebastian locked inside his terraced house on this beautiful summer evening, with his panic button and the police officer outside. He thought of the woman who’d carried a bag of pig’s blood to central London in the hope of dousing a lawyer she’d never even met.

Named and shamed. Societal disapproval was no longer something it was possible to ignore. That disapproval could cost a job, a livelihood, even a life. Sebastian was still a young man, just twenty-one years old, yet he was being asked to atone for the child he had once been. It felt harsh to Daniel. He wouldn’t like to be held to account for the child he had once been. 

Daniel thought he was more or less satisfied with his life, but within a week, his wife asks for space, and a high-profile client from before his marriage returns. His wife’s accusations and the requests of his client have him re-examining everything.

Official synopsis:

Innocent?

Ten years have passed, but everyone remembers The Angel Killer. Sebastian Croll was just eleven years old when accused of murdering his playmate.

Criminal attorney Daniel Hunter helped prove Sebastian's innocence in a trial that gripped the nation—and now the past is being unearthed when he gets a call from his old client.

Or guilty?

Sebastian's university professor has been brutally murdered—and everyone who knew her is in the frame of suspicion. As Daniel steps in to represent Sebastian for a second time, news about the boy's past spreads like wildfire, instantly branding Sebastian as guilty.

With tensions around the country rising, can Daniel prove once again that Sebastian is the innocent one? Especially when he realizes that it's not just Sebastian who is in danger, but himself . . .

Daniel worries that his past influences everything. He was a foster kid without the advantages of his wife or others in his life now, and he wonders if that makes him different from everyone else in a potentially very bad way. When his wife suggests he hasn’t been emotionally there for her, he’s devastated. He desperately wants to do better, but his life has recently gotten quite complicated.

Sebastian is back. When Sebastian was 11 years old, he was accused of murdering another child. Daniel and his now-wife both worked on the case, and through their meeting, eventually married and had a child of their own. While Daniel isn’t sure he really wants to work with Sebastian on the new case he seems to be entangled with, a client is a client. Everyone deserves a defense, right?

Like the author’s previous works, this was well-written and compelling - what happens next?? Toward the end, there were a couple different directions hinted at for the story’s conclusion. I gave this 4 out of 5 stars and would recommend it for those who enjoy a good psychological thriller. 

{click here to purchase}

Becki Bayley is a Gemini who likes feta cheese with olives, Cherry Coke with Southern Comfort, and a good book with a warm blanket. She also posts reviews on her own blog, SweetlyBSquared.com.

GIVEAWAY:

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

Enter via the widget below. Giveaway will end on Tuesday, December 6th, at 11:59pm EST, 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 Innocent One, by Lisa Ballentyne

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Book Review and GIVEAWAY: The Witch Hunt, by Sasha Peyton Smith {ends 11/5}

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

The rest of the day passes quietly. Finn joins the family for dinner against Maxine’s will. Her mother set a place for him, insisting on meeting her daughter’s mysterious guest. Finn, never one to turn down a dinner party, borrows a jacket from Maxine’s stepfather and is seated directly between Maxine and Nina.

Maxine’s mother and stepfather do not seem to be particularly concerned with Finn, who has taken up indefinite residence in one of their many guest rooms. This is something I’m learning about the wealthy: when you don’t do your own housework, houseguests mean very little.

Finn breaks Maxine’s fourth rule and delights Nina by pulling a quarter from behind her ear. Maxine levitates her steak knife just slightly off the table. It hovers there as a threat. Finn just laughs as if it’s all one massive joke. It makes me lose what little appetite I had left.

This group of charming teenage witches, primarily described by Frances, seem to have more than their share of trouble, but being great friends as well as awesome witches is the secret to their success.

Official synopsis:

Months after the devastating battle between the Sons of St. Druon and the witches of Haxahaven, Frances has built a quiet, safe life for herself, teaching young witches and tending the garden within the walls of Haxahaven Academy. But one thing nags; her magic has begun to act strangely. When an opportunity to visit Paris arises, Frances jumps at the chance to go, longing for adventure and seeking answers about her own power.

Once she and her classmates Maxine and Lena reach the vibrant streets of France, Frances learns that the spell she used to speak to her dead brother has had terrible consequences—the veil between the living and the dead has been torn by her recklessness, and a group of magicians are using the rift for their own gain at a horrifying cost.

To right this wrong, and save lives and her own magical powers, Frances must hunt down answers in the parlors of Parisian secret societies, the halls of the Louvre, and the tunnels of the catacombs. Her only choice is to team up with the person she swore she’d never trust again, risking further betrayal and her own life in the process.

This second book in The Witch Haven duology starts with Frances and her closest girlfriends on a ship crossing the ocean from New York to Paris. While the trip is certainly one they’ve been looking forward to, and they’re definitely enjoying each others’ company, Frances is a bit distracted because her magic isn’t working right. She doesn’t want anyone to really know about her struggles, and she isn’t entirely sure what has messed up the magical abilities she always took for granted.  

Soon enough, Frances and her friends have found themselves in a potentially epic confrontation between good and evil. Having not read the first book in the duology, the previous "devastating battle" wasn’t really clear. They have to work with a former friend-turned-enemy from their previous conflict, and learn a little more about Frances’ past along the way.

Overall, the characters were charming and engaging, and this book earned 3 out of 5 stars from this reader. Something seemed to be missing by not knowing the story of the first book, but this story was also entertaining with just a bit of the backstory unknown. I’d recommend this book and the first in the duology to be read in order by those who enjoy contemporary witch stories with strong female characters.

{click here to purchase}

Becki Bayley loves all witchy stories. She’s a Gemini who enjoys staying cozy, reading, and snuggling with her black cats. She shares a few other book reviews on her own blog, SweetlyBSquared.com.

GIVEAWAY:

One of my lucky readers will win a copy of The Witch Hunt!

Enter via the widget below. Giveaway will end on Saturday, November 5th, at 11:59pm ET, and winner will be notified 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 Hunt, by Sasha Peyton Smith

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Book Review: The Life Before, by Alexandra Monir (The Final Six #2)

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

I stand in front of the square plastic smidge of mirror above my bathroom sink, checking my reflection half an hour before the landmark Earth-to-Deep Space press conference that will broadcast us live to hundreds of millions in a special live episode of the Final Six docuseries. It’s only the second time astronauts have ever video-chatted with Earth from this great a distance – nearly halfway to Mars – and I try not to think about what happened to the last crew as I run a brush through my hair.

Dr. Takumi told us that more than half of Earth’s population is expected to tune in today. I can barely wrap my head around that staggering a number, but the thought of my family watching – and maybe, hopefully, Leo – is what gives me focus. My feelings about the mission may waver, but my desire to make them proud is a constant.

This second book finishes telling the exciting story of The Final Six and their plan to colonize one of Jupiter’s moons, which is hopefully more stable than Earth.

Official synopsis:

It was hard enough for Naomi to leave Leo, a fellow Final Six contestant, behind on a dying Earth. Now she doesn’t know who to trust.

The International Space Training Camp continues to dodge every question about its past failed mission, and Naomi is suspicious that not everything is as it seems on her own mission to Europa. With just one shot at Jupiter’s moon, Naomi is determined to find out if there is dangerous alien life on Europa before she and her crew get there. 

Leo, back on Earth, has been working with renegade scientist Dr. Greta Wagner, who promises to fly him to space where he can dock with Naomi’s ship. And if Wagner’s hypothesis is right, it isn’t a possibility of coming in contact with extraterrestrial life on Europa—it’s a definite, and it’s up to Leo to find and warn Naomi and the crew.

With questions piling up, everything gets more dangerous the closer that the mission gets to Europa. A storm threatens to interfere with Leo’s takeoff, a deadly entity makes itself known to the Final Six, and all questions the ISTC has been avoiding about the previous mission get answered in a terrifying way.

If the dream was to establish a new world for humans on Europa…the Final Six are about to enter a nightmare.

 

Book 1 of this duology covered the choosing of an international team of teens being taught to start an essentially new civilization on a moon of Jupiter. Unfortunately for a few of these brilliant teens, some of the bonds they made in training were now intended to be severed—and they’d be working and trusting their lives to others who they didn’t trust as much, if at all.

 

While they trained for a lot of obstacles and possibilities, they’re soon faced with even bigger problems, like potential sabotage on this life or death trip. The teens will have to re-examine their beliefs about who to trust, find out more about why they were chosen for this mission, and push their gifts and intelligence to new heights if they want to survive, let alone thrive, on a new planet.

 

This story was well-told and action-packed. It is definitely worth 3 out of 5 stars, and once someone has read the first one, they should totally read this book for the thrilling conclusion. 

 

{click here to purchase}

Becki Bayley enjoys relaxing with a book and a cocktail when taking a break from the endless list of work and mom tasks. Check out snapshots of her life on Instagram, where she posts as PoshBecki.

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Book Review and GIVEAWAY: The Fortunes of Jaded Women, by Carolyn Huynh {ends 10/26}

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

Priscilla’s frontal lobe kicked in, and it didn’t allow her to wallow for too long. She set out to optimize her chances at finding a life partner immediately after the breakup. She lined men up every night of the week, scheduling some nights back-to-back. For the more questionable ones, she did a series of video chats to screen them. Maximum results with minimum efforts. She realized if she followed a strict, rotational method, with a high turnover rate, she would have a higher percentage of finding love. 

But after three dates, she began to see a pattern with the single men in Seattle. The data was all there. Men who questioned her credentials. Men who felt threatened and insecure with her career. Men who dangled the promise of marriage and children one day, but didn’t actually mean it. Men who were obsessed with their package. Not that kind of package – their total compensation tech package, which included base salary and the number of stocks they were given. Men who paraded around as nice guys but secretly harbored incel thoughts. Priscilla’s thoughts took a dark turn as she kept rehashing Mark, Maggie Chen, and everything that had led her to this moment. She was spiraling, and she wasn’t sure how to pull herself out of it. But she continued to go on dates, and woke up next to strangers every morning because she was too afraid to go back to that empty apartment. 

The Duong sisters were part of a long line of Vietnamese women. They were women who gave birth to baby girls, because they were cursed to never have a son.

Official synopsis:

Everyone in Orange County’s Little Saigon knew that the Duong sisters were cursed.

It started with their ancestor, Oanh, who dared to leave her marriage for true love—so a fearsome Vietnamese witch cursed Oanh and her descendants so that they would never find love or happiness, and the Duong women would give birth to daughters, never sons.​

Oanh’s current descendant Mai Nguyen knows this curse well. She’s divorced, and after an explosive disagreement a decade ago, she’s estranged from her younger sisters, Minh Pham (the middle and the mediator) and Khuyen Lam (the youngest who swears she just runs humble coffee shops and nail salons, not Little Saigon’s underground). Though Mai’s three adult daughters, Priscilla, Thuy, and Thao, are successful in their careers (one of them is John Cho’s dermatologist!), the same can’t be said for their love lives. Mai is convinced they might drive her to an early grave.

Desperate for guidance, she consults Auntie Hua, her trusted psychic in Hawaii, who delivers an unexpected prediction: this year, her family will witness a marriage, a funeral, and the birth of a son. This prophecy will reunite estranged mothers, daughters, aunts, and cousins—for better or for worse.

A multi-narrative novel brimming with levity and candor, The Fortunes of Jaded Women is about mourning, meddling, celebrating, and healing together as a family. It shows how Vietnamese women emerge victorious, even if the world is against them.

These women are the very definition of character. While the family tree may take a little while to untangle, the daughters, sisters, and cousins are soon recognizable. The mothers are determined not to make the same mistakes their mothers made, but trying to follow tradition and blaze a new path at the same time obviously proves challenging. 

This story was a fun read, with all the characters having their positive personality traits and shortcomings. No one was really evil or unkind to anyone else, but they were believable women with their own strengths and weaknesses. Surely most readers can find aspects of these women familiar to themselves or people they know in real life.

The events foretold by Mai’s psychic were fun to read about and watch unfold. This book was an enjoyable read and 3 out of 5 stars. It could easily be recommended to those who enjoy family dramas, especially with the influence of Vietnamese family culture.

{click here to purchase}

Becki Bayley is a wife and mother of two delightful humans and two contrary but sometimes cuddly cats. She enjoys taking care of her space, reading, and being appreciated. Check out more that she’s posted on Instagram as PoshBecki.

GIVEAWAY:

One of my lucky readers will win a copy of The Fortunes of Jaded Women!

Enter via the widget below. Giveaway will end on Wednesday, October 26th, at 11:59pm ET, and winner will be notified 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 Fortunes of Jaded Women, by Carolyn Huynh

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