THE LOVE ELIXIR OF AUGUSTA STERN by Lynda Cohen Loigman

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC ebook to read.

Like chicken soup for the soul with a bit of magic and a dash of heartbreak along with laughter and a dose of romance sprinkled with hope. I really enjoyed this light and nostalgic read of, The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern. A predictable story but entertaining.

Augusta Stern becomes a pharmacist and takes over her father’s pharmacy. Augusta’s Aunt Esther is a huge influence in her life and encourages her to dabble in herbal remedies too. Augusta Stern reluctantly retires in 1987 at the age of eighty years old and relocates to a retirement community, Rallentando Springs, in Boca Raton, Florida. Augusta bumps into an old friend, Irving Rivkin, from her hometown of Brooklyn, who was her father’s delivery boy at the pharmacy, as well as, her boyfriend. It triggers painful memories of their courtship when Irving abruptly abandoned her. The story is told in flashbacks of her youth in Brooklyn and current year 1987.

Will Augusta finally get the answers she deserves of why Irving abandoned her all those years ago? Did Irving ever truly love her or was he simply playing the part? Is it possible to recapture the lost magic of youth?

I enjoyed Lynda Cohen Loigman’s book, The Two-Family House also.

HUNTED by Abir Mukherjee

Narrated by: Nikki Patel (Yasmine), Amber Rose Revah (Shreya), Stefan Trout (Greg), Mikhail Sen (Sajid), and Sophia Roberts (Rehana).

A breakneck paced terrorism thriller that takes place a week before the toxic presidential elections. We meet Jack and Yasmine right before an explosion occurs in a busy shopping mall and an unheard of organization from Oregon claims responsibility. The FBI gets involved and agent Shreya Mistry, who has personal baggage and professional problems, is determined to be involved with this investigation. A father in the United Kingdom, Sajid Khan, has heard his daughter, Aliyah, isn’t in Japan as he thought, but is in the USA. A mother, Carrie, from Florida who has made a connection between her son and the bomber, fears he has been radicalized. She arrives in the UK to talk to Sajid in a desperate plea for him to come to the USA and help her in locating their children before a catastrophe can derail the country. Can they find their kids before it’s too late?

I really enjoyed this thriller and was immersed right from the start. It was frightening to see how the preying on vulnerable individuals is done and how they are able to be manipulated into believing. This well crafted story feels like it could have been torn from the pages of today’s headlines. Each chapter ending on a cliffhanger so you keep turning the pages of this taut and credible read. It’s a story with regrets, retribution and redemption. This is my first read of Abir Mukherjee’s and look forward to more from him. The narration from the cast of readers was very good and enjoyed that each character had a different voice.

Quote from book ——
… “It only worked if you were busted and with nothing left to lose. Her greatest trick wasn’t how she controlled them, it was how she chose those ready to be controlled, ready to believe and desperate enough to act.”

THE REFORMATORY by Tananarive Due

Wow, this was a difficult read that hit me to my core and at times I could only read a few chapters and then have to set it down. This is a historical horror novel of a powerful story of racism and abuse, and a shameful period in history. Revolving around a twelve-year-old boy named “Robbie” Stephens, Jr., who is sentenced to serve six months at the Gracetown School for Boys, commonly known as the Reformatory. So begins Robbie’s journey further into the terrors of Jim Crow South and the very real horror of the Reformatory. Through his friends, Redbone and Blue, Robbie not only learns the rules, but learns how to survive. Robbie is sensitive to the ghosts, or “haints,” that haunt the school; because of this, he is valuable to the brutal superintendent, Fenton Haddock, who is on a mission to rid the Reformatory of the dark history that the haints threaten to reveal. Robbie’s older sister, Gloria, is desperately searching all avenues to secure Robbie’s release.

Exploring themes of, The Racism of the American Criminal Justice System, The Struggle to Resolve the Past and Preserve the Present, and Turning to Community in Times of Trouble. Touches upon the racism and violence characteristic of the Jim Crow era. The novel frequently references violence against children, child death and murder, institutional abuse, sexual harassment and abuse of minors, and offensive language, including the n-word. This book, The Reformatory, is fiction, but be sure to read the Authors Note at end and she explains what inspired her to write this fabulous book that took her about ten years to write.

PASSIONTIDE by Monique Roffey

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor for the ARC ebook to read.

The title, Passiontide, is the last two weeks of Lent. On the small tropical island of St. Colibri, carnival is just over and Sora Tanaka, a young Japanese steel-pan player is found brutally murdered lying under a cannonball tree. Because the island is known for women being murdered, there is a special unit within the police called OMWEN, the Office for Murdered Women. There have been five hundred women on the island killed. It took a foreign woman to be killed before an inept group consisting of a police inspector and local government cared to have the person found; only because of it looking bad for tourism.

Sora’s death has finally made women say, “enough is enough” and four women from various walks of life, join forces and find new ways to help one another and soon more and more women join in this rebellion. Sora’s voice of the dead, is used throughout the novel. Femicide is the topic in, Passiontide. Raffey starts this novel off with the impression of a detective story; becoming apparent that “state-approved, and state-sanctioned misogyny” plays out with the prime minister, mayor, inspector, and almost all the male characters.

Overall I enjoyed this book. There is an unfamiliar (to me) island lexicon that hampered my reading till I became more familiar with it. I believe it is the Trinidadian English that gives the narrative authenticity. I enjoyed the larger-than-life characters Roffey created. I look forward to seeing what Monique Roffey has next for us.

HERE ONE MOMENT by Liane Moriarty

Thank you to NetGalley and Crown Publishing | Crown for the ARC ebook of Here One Moment


The intriguing premise of this book is a psychic onboard a plane and predicting passengers causes and ages of their deaths. Of course this stirs a commotion onboard when this strange lady is walking throughout the plane and pointing at passengers while repeating the phrase, “fate won’t be fought.” You get the backstory of each character as they reckon with their alleged fate. You will get to know Cherry, the Death Lady, and the life that brought her to this day on the plane. Here One Moment is a captivating read from the start and the tension builds and is maintained throughout. I liked how Liane Moriarty wrapped up the end of this story. A long book, but with short chapters that make it not seem so long. Always look forward to what she will write next.

Touching upon grief, free will and destiny, loneliness, love, family, and choices.

THE VOLCANO DAUGHTERS by Gina Maria Balibrera

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for the ARC ebook to read.


A debut set in early 20th century El Salvador. Graciela and her four friends live a simple life along with their mothers on a volcano in a community of indigenous women indentured to a coffee plantation. Most of the children don’t even know who their fathers are. Graciela’s father, who was second-in-command and spiritual advisor to the the general, El Gran Pendejo, has died. Graciela, along with her mother are summoned to the capital to pay their respects. Upon arrival in the capital, the sister, Consuelo, who was kidnapped years ago is reunited with her mother and sister.

This story spans decades and follows the two sisters and their quest to flee the genocide in El Salvador, under the rule of El Gran Pendejo. A massacre of indigenous people following El Gran Pendejo’s coup d’etat leaves their childhood friends and families killed. The novel is cleverly narrated by the four childhood friends beyond the grave. The author did a brilliant job of having these four ghosts doing the narration. The sisters each believing the other is dead have crossed the globe, and reinvented their lives; ultimately reconnecting.

This is a difficult review for me to try and condense, as so much happens when spanning decades. I was pleasantly impressed by this authors debut and style of writing. A novel of resistance, survival, sisterhood, political history, lyrical, and mythical. I will definitely be following her to see what she does next.

THE VOLCANO DAUGHTERS by Gina Maria Balibrera

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for the ARC ebook to read.

A debut set in early 20th century El Salvador. Graciela and her four friends live a simple life along with their mothers on a volcano in a community of indigenous women indentured to a coffee plantation. Most of the children don’t even know who their fathers are. Graciela’s father, who was second-in-command and spiritual advisor to the the general, El Gran Pendejo, has died. Graciela, along with her mother are summoned to the capital to pay their respects. Upon arrival in the capital, the sister, Consuelo, who was kidnapped years ago is reunited with her mother and sister.

This story spans decades and follows the two sisters and their quest to flee the genocide in El Salvador, under the rule of El Gran Pendejo. A massacre of indigenous people following El Gran Pendejo’s coup d’etat leaves their childhood friends and families killed. The novel is cleverly narrated by the four childhood friends beyond the grave. The author did a brilliant job of having these four ghosts doing the narration. The sisters each believing the other is dead have crossed the globe, and reinvented their lives; ultimately reconnecting.

This is a difficult review for me to try and condense, as so much happens when spanning decades. I was pleasantly impressed by this authors debut and style of writing. A novel of resistance, survival, sisterhood, political history, lyrical, and mythical. I will definitely be following her to see what she does next.

THE LION WOMEN OF TEHRAN by Marjan Kamali

4.5 stars
Narration by Mozhan Navabi and Nikki Massoud was very well done. Mozhan Navabi is a favorite narrator of mine.

Ellie and Homa, two young girls growing up in Tehran meet at school in early 1950s. Ellie, who is descended from Persian royalty, lives in grand comfort until the death of her father, forcing Ellie and her mother to move to a tiny home downtown. Ellie and Homa do everything together and become the closest of friends and share their ambitions for becoming “lion women.” Things change for the girls when Ellie and her mother are able to return to their previous bourgeois life. Ellie meets new friends and soon Homa begins to fade. Years later Homa reappears in Ellie’s life. As they come of age together during a time of political upheaval that is building in Iran, they’ll learn that their lives will forever be changed by the course of their friendship. Though the story is Ellie’s, Homa is the real star in this.

This is a compelling and beautifully crafted historical read about the power and complexities of deep friendship and resilience during a time of political unrest. With love, ambition, loyalty, jealousy, betrayal and forgiveness, the complex nature of mother-daughter relationships, family shame and secrets.

“Lionesses. Us. Can’t you just see it Ellie? Someday, you and me — we’ll do great things. We’ll live life for ourselves. And we will help others. We are cubs now, maybe. But we will grow to be lionesses. Strong women who will make things happen.”

THE GOD OF THE WOODS by Liz Moore

Saskia Maarleveld always does an incredible narration. Another favorite narrator of mine. I also paired this with the book.

At an esteemed summer camp in 1975 in the Adirondack Mountains, a young teenage girl goes missing in the middle of the night when the camp counselors aren’t around. Tension and a sense of doom builds as it becomes known that the missing teen is, Barbara Van Laar, daughter of the wealthy family that owns the camp. This isn’t the first time the Van Laar’s had a missing child; Bear, Barbara’s older brother, who was eight, also went missing years prior. The mother, Alice Van Laar, has never recovered from when Bear went missing.

Moore’s story jumps around in time, from the 1950s into the '70s and features a host of characters. There are intricately interwoven plots among the crowded characters of this narrative. A literary suspense/crime read that will keep you reading and guessing.

“As it unfolds, “The God of the Woods” becomes more and more focused on how its female characters break free — or don’t — of the constraints of their time and social class. Whatever the case, breaking free of the spell Moore casts is close to impossible.” A quote from Maureen Corrigan, a book critic

Touching upon family dynamics, secrets, lies, guilt, betrayal, relationships, trust, abuses of various forms, submissiveness, grief, and justice.

ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK by Chris Whitaker

I read this and listened to the audiobook narrated by, Edoardo Ballerini, who always does an outstanding narration. He is a favorite narrator of mine and I highly recommend the audiobook.

In 1975 in the small town of Monta Clare, in the Ozark mountains of Missouri, young girls are gone missing. When a girl from a wealthy family is being attacked, Patch, a thirteen-year-old boy with one eye who pretends he is a pirate, happens to be in the area and saves her from being taken. What follows changes Patch’s life and others in this small town. This well crafted powerfully written novel is part thriller, suspense, crime fiction, coming-of-age, love story, and Bildungsroman (new word for me, and describes it perfectly).

Patch and Saint, a teenage girl, are the two main characters and have a very special bond of friendship. This novel unfolds over decades as Patch and Saint, navigate their teenage years into adulthood. Both Patch, Saint, and others in this small community live out their lives, forever changed by the tragic events of one year. This complicated story touches on serial killer violence, obsession, loyalty, kindness, memories, dreams, hope, and so much more.

I found myself getting lost in the pages of this beautifully written, character-driven story that I didn’t want to end. This book blew me away, and by far my most favorite read of 2024 thus far. Once again, Chris Whitaker has written another book of sheer brilliance.

THE ROSE ARBOR by Rhys Bowen

Thanks to BookBrowse and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC book of this to read.

Loved the beautiful cover art on the jacket of this book and also on the book itself. Really beautifully done.

Female empowerment is important to Rhys Bowen’s characters. I like that she writes of women who’ve been underestimated and bringing them into the spotlight; as she has done with this story of Liz Houghton. London: 1968. Liz has been doing her job perfunctorily as an obit writer at a London newspaper. When a young girl goes missing, Liz already has a scoop because her best friend, Marisa, is a police officer assigned to the case. Liz thinks this could possibly be her break in journalism.

Liz accompanies Marisa to Dorset, where another disturbing discovery is made from over two decades earlier. Three girls disappeared when the military requisitioned the village of Tydeham during the war and left it in ruins. Liz is drawn to this village and isn’t sure why. The place seems strangely familiar though she’s never seen this village. Why is this so? And why after all these years would there be a link to the missing girls here?

A mystery fused in history, with plot twists, romance, family issues, secrets, misogyny, the chaos of the government program that moved children away from unsafe villages/cities, and the sacrifices the citizens endured during wartime. The character descriptions and dialogue felt very authentic to me. This is my first read by Rhys Bowen and enjoyed the narrative and I am looking forward to reading more of her books.

SMOTHERMOSS by Alisa Alering

The narration by Susan Bennett was very well done.

Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media for the ARC audiobook.

Sheila and Angie are step-sisters living in a rural area of 1980s Appalachia with their mother, Bonnie and Great Aunt Athena. Sheila, at the age of 17, carries a heavy burden of caring for the family rabbits, their aging great aunt, the gardens and the home along with going to school. However Angie, at the age of 12, is Shelia’s greatest worry. Angie fantasies about saving the world from evil—-obsessed with battling imaginary enemies, with nuclear war, the Russians, and the tarot-like cards she has created that speak to her in ways only she understands. Their mother works long hours at the asylum and the girls are left to defend for themselves a lot of the time.

I was drawn into this propulsive debut of dark rural gothic/fairytale magic/thriller, right from the beginning. The book is layered with nuance and subtle meanings. The writing is lyrical and beautifully executed. Tells the complex nature of sisterhood in rural Appalachia along with a bit of folklore living on the outskirts of this rural community and how the mountain plays a powerful role. Can’t wait to see what this author has for us next.

The narration by Susan Bennett was very well done.

Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media for the ARC audiobook.

Sheila and Angie are step-sisters living in a rural area of 1980s Appalachia with their mother, Bonnie and Great Aunt Athena. Sheila, at the age of 17, carries a heavy burden of caring for the family rabbits, their aging great aunt, the gardens and the home along with going to school. However Angie, at the age of 12, is Shelia’s greatest worry. Angie fantasies about saving the world from evil—-obsessed with battling imaginary enemies, with nuclear war, the Russians, and the tarot-like cards she has created that speak to her in ways only she understands. Their mother works long hours at the asylum and the girls are left to defend for themselves a lot of the time.

I was drawn into this propulsive debut of dark rural gothic/fairytale magic/thriller, right from the beginning. The book is layered with nuance and subtle meanings. The writing is lyrical and beautifully executed. Tells the complex nature of sisterhood in rural Appalachia along with a bit of folklore living on the outskirts of this rural community and how the mountain plays a powerful role. Can’t wait to see what this author has for us next.

A wonderful historical fiction read of Martha Ballard, a midwife with a strong moral compass. Taking place in Maine, in the 18th century. In 1789 a dead man is found in the Kennebec River and Martha is called to examine the body. Martha finds herself investigating the death of, Joshua Burgess, who is believed to have raped the pastor’s wife with another of the town’s respected gentlemen. And so, begins this story of Martha Ballard.

This is a multilayered story and flips from past to present. I throughly enjoyed every minute reading this. There is a main theme thread throughout of gender oppression and familial loyalty. There is a Puritanical culture of shame that dehumanizes and humiliates the book’s female characters. The river and its power is associated with death, danger and of life in general in the town of Hallowell.

Martha’s qualities of — her resilience, courage and savviness are depicted in Lawhon’s storytelling. Martha holds herself and her family in high-esteem.

“I consider them my babies. I am not their mother, of course, but they are mine, and I can still feel the weight of grief hanging heavy in those birthing rooms.”

This is my first read from Ariel Lawhon, but I’m looking forward to reading more of her work.

Shelterwood by Lisa Wingate

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC ebook of Shelterwood

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

I have read a few of Lisa Wingate’s books and this is also a good read, even though I enjoyed others more. At the heart of this story are two young sisters, Olive and Nessa, who escape abuse and find themselves in the wilderness of the Winding Stair Mountains in 1909. Olive refuses to be broken down by all the challenges they encounter on their own and she will protect her sister Nessa at all costs. They encounter other children, of whom many are orphans left to fend for themselves also.

The story weaves back and forth between Olive and Nessa in 1909 and Ranger Valerie Borden O’Dell in 1990. Ranger Valerie unearths long-buried secrets along a trail in a national park. She has to unravel the corruption and lies from decades ago.

We learn of the many injustices that were done to Native people of the land and the losses they faced. Lisa Wingate always does a fine job of ensuring that voices from the past are finally heard and their stories told.

THE PECAN CHILDREN by Quinn Connor

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the ARC of The Pecan Children

3.5 stars
A Southern Gothic with magical realism. Set on a pecan plantation in rural Arkansas where twin sisters grew up. Lil Clearwater works tirelessly in the pecan orchard left to her by her mother. Her balance is thrown off when her high school sweetheart returns to their depressed hometown. Sasha, Lil’s twin sister, has reluctantly returned back home from New York. Autumn, Sasha’s childhood crush is back in town also.

Confronted with ghosts of their past and family secrets. A quirky and haunting read, drenched in folklore.

The first half seemed a bit slow and second half was just okay for me. I did like the small southern town and the creepiness of the story. Many others have really liked this book. This is my first read from these authors and would read other books. Quinn Connor is one pen in two hands: Robyn Barrow and Alexandra Cronin.

LONG AFTER WE ARE GONE

Narration by Diontae Black was very well done.

I enjoyed her previous book, One Summer in Savannah, and I enjoyed this one, as well. I am a huge fan of Terah Shelton Harris’ writing style and her artfully done story telling. A generational family drama set in North Carolina, where patriarch King’s last words are, “Don’t let the white man take the house.” Thus, binding his children to the preservation of his legacy, and his dreams.

A family so at odds but also so filled with love. Four siblings that are each battling personal problems, must come together to try and save the Kingdom from a development company.

Touching on buried secrets, forgiveness, love, homophobia, heir property (which I had never heard about), addiction, and violence.

I look forward to more from this accomplished author.

Narration by: Jessica Regan, Stephen Hogan and Sara Lyman was exceptionally well done and highly recommend.

“When I die, put me out with the bins. I'll be dead, so I won't know any different..."
When the time came...I followed his instructions."

—— and you are immediately drawn inside the life of Sally Diamond.

Another chilling and haunting psychological thriller that Liz Nugent has written; with complex characters that I throughly enjoyed. I could not stop listening to this. Following the story of Sally Diamond haunted by a traumatic yet forgotten past. The repressed memories and events of her childhood influence her personality, actions, and psychological well-being.

The novel shifts between various timelines and multiple narrators to unveil the mysteries of her past. Sally receives a gift in the mail that will bring in another theme running through this dark and twisted story.

Examining the dilemma of nature versus nurture and good vs. evil, making for one of the best thrillers I’ve read in a long-time. Will a series or movie come from this…. I can only hope for. This is Liz Nugent at her best yet.

JAMES by Percival Everett

Narration by Dominic Hoffman was perfectly done. Percival Everett has written a brilliant story of reimagining at its best. I absolutely loved everything he took liberty with in this story about James. James is a father and husband, and an enslaved man living in Missouri before the civil war. I suppose you can say this is a reboot of Mark Twain’s 1884 novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, narrated by the enslaved Jim. James is a father and husband, and an enslaved man living in Missouri before the civil war. James has found out he is to be sold and separated from his family. He flees to a deserted island and encounters Huckleberry Finn, also on the run.

The two begin their adventure in this entertaining read on multiple levels that is painful, funny, gripping and horrifying. This is definitely a top read for me in 2024 and Percival Everett certainly knocked it out of the park with this ingenious book. Kudos to him!??“To fight in a war,” he said. “Can you imagine?”?“Would that mean facing death every day and doing what other people tell you to do?” I asked.?“I reckon.”?“Yes, Huck, I can imagine.”

THE STOLEN CHILD by Ann Hood

4.5 stars
Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media for the audiobook of this gorgeously written work of secrets long buried in the trenches of World War I, by Ann Hood. This is a historical fiction, mystery and romance read.

Narration by Jefferson Mays was well done.

How a one time chance encounter and a decision made can haunt you for a lifetime; exactly what happens to soldier, Nick Burns in 1917 at the young age of nineteen during World War I. A French artist, Camille Chastain, thrusts her paintings in one bundle and a baby in another bundle into Nick’s hands —- and flees.

The story moves to 1974 and curmudgeonly Nick, who has a terminal illness, and his hopeless romantic assistant, Jessica, travel to France and Italy to try and unravel the mystery of this child.

I enjoyed the writing of Ann Hood in this novel. This is my first read from her.