Q: What inspired you to write debut novel Between February and November? I’ve always created stories about people I've come across, and what I think is happening in their life, but I kept them to myself. I would make up scenarios and conversations with and about them, but I never wrote anything down. Then one day in... Continue Reading →
Synopsis: This powerful new cozy mystery series from critically acclaimed, award-winning, and bestselling author Krista Lockheart will have you smiling as it challenges your mind and warms your heart!WARNING: super cute animals will leave you utterly charmed!If you love animals, THIS book is for YOU!Ant, the irresistible Chihuahua, is more than a main character.Read how he steals the show, just... Continue Reading →
Synopsis: Introducing internationally bestselling author Bolu Babalola’s dazzling debut novel, full of passion, humor, and heart, that centers on a young Black British woman who has no interest in love and unexpectedly finds herself caught up in a fake relationship with the man she warned her girls about. Sweet like plantain, hot like pepper. They... Continue Reading →
Q: When did you first begin writing stories?Almost as early as I can remember holding a pen. I remember storytelling being a thing for me extremely early on. My mom was always an avid reader, so we read a lot of books. She would buy me journals and that was where I would start writing... Continue Reading →
Q: What was the first book that you have published? My first novel was The All-Night Sun (Random House, 2020). The story follows Lauren Cress, a young adjunct professor who has long been grieving the deaths of her parents alone. After an international student named Siri joins her class, the two bond quickly over loss,... Continue Reading →
Synopsis: Falling in love is the ultimate payback in this delightful, breezy romcom about an interior designer who teams up with an enigmatic architect at her firm to get revenge on her ex the only way she knows how: by building a spite house next door“Filled with sizzling chemistry and delicious revenge, Love at First Spite had me... Continue Reading →
Synopsis: An edge-of-your seat murder mystery set in a forgotten, ocean-facing town on Vancouver Island!A body washes up on the shores of Lake Templeton, a small town on the coast of Vancouver Island. Sharon Reese, the victim, was a dedicated government employee. Everyone liked her, but no one knew much about her. Was she hiding... Continue Reading →
Synopsis: A heartwarming Avon debut of love, forgiveness, and new beginnings set in the beautiful South Carolina Lowcountry. Maya Jackson has worked for Laura Whitcomb, Inc, a renowned New York City bridal gown brand, for years and dreams of becoming Head Designer. She has the talent; she just needs a chance to showcase her unique... Continue Reading →
Synopsis: From debut author, Barb Curtis, a heartwarming small-town romance about high school sweethearts who return home and discover that first love sometimes gets a second chance. . . Jay Wynter wants to be successful on his own merit. That's why he left Sapphire Springs and his family's winery to build a career from scratch.... Continue Reading →
Q&A with Author Jennifer Lieberman Q: What inspired you to create your latest work, Year of the What? My novel Year of the What? was originally a solo show entitled Year of the Slut. When I first moved to Los Angeles a friend suggested I write myself a vehicle and invite talent agents, producers, directors... Continue Reading →
Synopsis: What happens when the person you find MOST impossible becomes impossible to resist? Opposites distract in this hilarious romantic comedy about America's least likely couple.There's just one thing standing between liberal Senate staffer Kate Adams and passage of the landmark legislation she's been fighting for all year: Ben Mackenzie, intimidating gatekeeper for one of... Continue Reading →
Synopsis: A boy coming of age in a part of the country that's being left behind is at the heart of this dazzling novel--the first by an award-winning author of short stories that evoke the American West. Callan Wink has been compared to masters like Jim Harrison and Thomas McGuane. His short stories have been... Continue Reading →
Synopsis: In this sophisticated, suspenseful debut reminiscent of Laura Lippman and Chloe Benjamin, two young women become unlikely friends during one fateful summer in Atlantic City as mysterious disappearances hit dangerously close to home. Summer has come to Atlantic City but the boardwalk is empty of tourists, the casino lights have dimmed, and two Jane... Continue Reading →
Synopsis: When committed female police captain Linda Turner, haunted by the murders of two small children and their pastor father, becomes obsessed with solving the harrowing case, she finds herself wrapped up in a mission to expose a fraudulent religious organization and an unrepentant killer. Despite her years of experience investigating homicides for the force,... Continue Reading →
Synopsis: A darkly funny and life-affirming debut novel for readers of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine the story of one man who is offered a second chance at life and love when he develops an unexpected friendship--if he can expose the white lie he told years ago that grew into so much more. Andrew's... Continue Reading →
Debut Novelist Draws on Military and Law Enforcement Background to Craft a Heart-Pounding Romantic Suspense “Natalie Walters has masterfully woven an emotionally charged suspense and love story. It’s the perfect book for the avid romantic-suspense reader. Look for more novels to come from this new author!”—DiAnn Mills, author of Burden of Proof, http://www.DiAnnMills.com Ada, Mich—Natalie... Continue Reading →
Synopsis: Rydr is on a train heading east, leaving California, where her gramma can’t take care of her anymore, and traveling to Chicago to live with an unknown relative. She brings with her a suitcase, memories both happy and sad, and a box containing something very important. As Rydr meets her fellow... Continue Reading →
Synopsis: A sweeping and captivating debut novel about a young librarian who is sent a mysterious old book, inscribed with his grandmother's name. What is the book's connection to his family? Simon Watson, a young librarian, lives alone on the Long Island Sound in his family home, a house perched on the... Continue Reading →
Synopsis: A novel rooted in the remarkable, but little-known, true history of the only secessionist town north of the Mason Dixon Line. When escaped slave, Joe Bell, collapses in her father’s barn, Mary Willis must ward off Confederate guerillas and spies, Joe’s vengeful owner, and even her own brother... Continue Reading →
Synopsis: When Miranda Black’s mother abandoned her, she took everything—the sun, moon, and stars—and Miranda found shelter in her friendship with Syd, who wore her own motherlessness like a badge of honor: Our mothers abandoned us. We won’t go begging for scraps. When Syd runs away suddenly and inexplicably in the... Continue Reading →
Synopsis: "Razor-sharp urban noir...very special indeed." -- Lee Child The breathtakingly propulsive and stunningly assured debut thriller, perfect for readers of Tana French, Don Winslow and Dennis Lehane The mission is suicide. Infiltrating the inner circle of enigmatic criminal Zain Carver is dangerous enough.... Continue Reading →
Synopsis: On the eve of the Victorian era, London has a new sleuth . . . In the winter of 1835, young Charles Dickens is a journalist on the rise at the Evening Chronicle. Invited to dinner at the estate of the newspaper's co-editor, Charles is smitten with... Continue Reading →
Synopsis: Nick Reese wakes from a three-year coma to find the world he once knew is gone. An ancient virus has infected two-thirds of the world's population, turning humans into either incredibly intelligent super-humans or large and indestructible animalistic creatures. For the survivors, there is no government, no... Continue Reading →
Synopsis: When her grandmother’s will wrenches Sara back home from New Orleans, she learns more about Margaret Van Buren in the wake of her death than she ever did in life. After her last remaining family member dies, Sara Jenkins goes home to The Hideaway, her grandmother Mags's ramshackle B&B in Sweet Bay, Alabama. She... Continue Reading →
Synopsis: Then she saw it – a sheet of paper in the mailbox, underneath the mail. It was white with large black letters and said LEAVE IT ALONE. Mrs. B has a quiet life, and she likes it that way. Morning pinochle games at St. Mary’s Senior Center. Afternoon lunches with Myrtle, Anne and Rose.... Continue Reading →
Author Interview with Vicki Righettini ULM: What inspired you to write your debut novel, The Blue Hour? As a kid I was fascinated by stories of the pioneers. In fact, there's a history of pioneering in my family: my mother's side came to Pennsylvania from Germany in the 1700s, then moved to Kentucky and Illinois,... Continue Reading →
Synopsis: A richly textured coming-of-age story about fathers and sons, home and family, recalling classics by Thomas Wolfe and William Styron, by a powerful new voice in fiction Just before Henry Aster’s birth, his father—outsized literary ambition and pregnant wife in tow—reluctantly returns to the small Appalachian town in which he was raised and installs... Continue Reading →
Synopsis: Eva Walker is a seventeen-year-old math genius. And if that doesn’t do wonders for her popularity, there’s another thing that makes it even worse: when she touches another person or anything that belongs to them — from clothes to textbooks to cell phones — she sees a vision of their emotions. She can read... Continue Reading →
Synopsis: Sometimes you get older before you actually grow up, and twenty-seven-year-old Kennedy James is about to discover just that. Sure, she has a fiancé and a future, but she realizes (just in time) that it isn’t quite the future she wants—much to her down-home Arkansan family’s chagrin. Stifled by the conventions of Southern... Continue Reading →
Synopsis: Selena D’Agostino needed a vacation. So when she received a mysterious invitation from England to meet long-lost relations at their family castle, it seemed just the ticket. But nothing could have prepared her for what she would find there. Not only were her newfound relatives not what they seemed . . . it... Continue Reading →
Synopsis: Sunny Siebel isn't an ordinary girl - she can see what others can't. She has the ability to see and communicate with the deceased. Only sharing the company of lost spirits waiting to move on, her life changes when she meets a Reaper for the first time and realizes what she has been... Continue Reading →
Synopsis: Josh is a nine-year-old boy with an adventurous streak. After a chance encounter with a wily leprechaun, Josh is transported to a strange land inhabited by giants, wizards, and creatures of the undead variety. He quickly realizes Scariton is unlike the suburbs in every way imaginable and learns the only way he can... Continue Reading →
Synopsis: When a high-ranking head of the migration board is found shot to death in his living room, there is no shortage of suspects, including his wife. But no one expects to find mysterious, child-size fingerprints in this childless home. Public prosecutor Jana Berzelius steps in to lead the investigation. Young and brilliant but... Continue Reading →
Synopsis: Coinman, a junior level office worker in India, has a number of eccentricities. The laughingstock of the office, he finds no relief at home; his wife Imli, an obsessed actress, completely vanishes into each role. When tough bully, Hukum, a beautiful enchantress, Tulsi, and the office sage, Ratiram, unite the office to conspire against... Continue Reading →
Synopsis: The core story is set in Venice in the sixteenth century, when the famed makers of Venetian glass were perfecting one of the old world's most wondrous inventions: the mirror. An object of glittering yet fearful fascination—was it reflecting simple reality, or something more spiritually revealing?—the Venetian mirrors were state of the art... Continue Reading →
Synopsis: The tears and laughter of life's ups and downs are the emotional pulse of this mesmerizing debut novel by Joel Michael Dorr--a funny look at fractured lives coming together--proving love and salvation might just come from the most unlikeliest of people. Ilena Doran dedicates herself to helping battered women--but the therapist can't seem... Continue Reading →
Synopsis: Have you ever seen a report of a terrible animal abuse case and thought, “Someone should stop that person from ever being able to harm another animal?" Then, this novel is for you. Sam Holden is a young woman who comes across a dog after she has been tortured to death. This starts her... Continue Reading →
Synopsis: Kat Lind, an American expatriate living in London with her entrepreneur husband and their young son, attends an opening at a prestigious Mayfair art gallery and is astonished to find her own face on the walls. The portraits are evidence of a long-ago love affair with the artist, Daniel Blake. Unbeknownst to her,... Continue Reading →
Synopsis: In a lyrical, captivating debut set against the backdrop of the Harlem Renaissance and glittering Jazz Age Paris, Joe Okonkwo creates an evocative story of emotional and artistic awakening. On a sweltering summer night in 1925, beauties in beaded dresses mingle with hepcats in dapper suits on the streets of Harlem. The air... Continue Reading →
Synopsis: We’ve all heard the saying: you never forget your first love. For some, however, perhaps the better terminology is haunted---haunted with the memories, the connections, and the life-changing relationship. So begins the tale of Emma Ranstein and Corbin Jones, two typical teenagers who travel the road of first love together, hearts sealed by... Continue Reading →
Synopsis: Spinning a page-turning story of literary suspense that begins in the present and unwinds back more than half a century, this unforgettable debut channels the haunting allure of Atonement as its masterfully woven web of lies, secrets, and betrayals unravels to a shocking conclusion. Veteran con artist Roy spots an obvious easy mark... Continue Reading →
Synopsis: One lied. One died. When one sister dies, the other must go to desperate lengths to survive After a tragic accident, still haunted by her twin sister’s death, Abi is making a fresh start in Bath. But when she meets siblings Bea and Ben, she is quickly drawn into their privileged and unsettling... Continue Reading →
My Rating: 5 stars My Review: The Gallery of Wonders by Marc Remus is the most fascinating children's book that I have read. An illustrator at heart, Marc Remus has turned his illustrations into much more than just words on blank pages. He has beautifully created worlds where a child's imagination can soar. Adventure, suspense,... Continue Reading →
Synopsis: True love does triumph...in some shape and form. Isabelle has always risen above tragedy and heart break. When her baby died, she rose and survived. As she dealt with a cheating and abusive husband, she rose and survived. Isabelle thought her chance at finding happiness was fading, but real love was nearby. When... Continue Reading →
Synopsis: A year ago, Danny Ryan lost his wife and son in a car accident. He's still reeling from the tragedy when Michael Cohen, his friend and fellow journalist, drives into the pond in front of his house with a bullet through his gut. With Michael's death ruled a murder, Danny must work to... Continue Reading →
Dream Myself Alive is a one of a kind paranormal read that will take readers away from reality and take them somewhere in between. Readers won't know what is real and what isn't at least not until the ending. A fantastic thriller unlike any I have ever read before. Brian Lovestar masterfully created a novel that... Continue Reading →
Longer excerpt one: The annoying buzzing in my pants vibrates again and I give up. Jess is relentless. If I don’t show, I’ll never hear the end of it. Rays of sunlight scatter across the sidewalk as the clouds slowly drift in front of the afternoon sun. The air is crisp, vibrant, lifting my mood as I pull... Continue Reading →
Urban Book Reviews 