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.

{click here to purchase via my Amazon Affiliates link}

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

Read More

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.

{click here to purchase via my Amazon Affiliate link}

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.

Read More

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.

{click here to purchase via my Amazon Affiliate link - currently FREE for Kindle Unlimited members!}

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

Read More

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.

{click here to purchase via Amazon Affiliates link}

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

Read More

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

Read More

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

Read More

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

Read More