This Week at Silver's Reviews

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Spotlight of Six Little Words by Sally Page

PHOTO SOURCE:

TYPORAMA
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SIX LITTLE WORDS

SALLY PAGE

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ALL INFORMATION IN THIS POST IS COURTESY OF TATIANA RADUJKOVIC, PUBLICIST, BLACKSTONE PUBLISHING

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Sunday Times bestselling author and British Book of the Year nominee Sally Page returns with a seriously uplifting and joyful later-in-life, second-chance romance certain to make any heart flutter.

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February 24, 2026

Blackstone Publishing

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PRAISE FOR SIX LITTLE WORDS:

“Six Little Words is a marvel—it is funny, thought-provoking, and comforting all at once. Sally Page has a gift for creating lovable characters who feel instantly familiar and a fictional landscape that is a joy to return to each night.”—Clare Leslie Hall, bestselling author of Broken Country 

 

“Six Little Words is a beautifully heartwarming story of hope, love, and friendship...Sally Page writes with such vivid elegance, transporting readers into the windswept Norfolk marshes. A gorgeous gem of a story.”—Freya Sampson, bestselling author of The Last Chance Library 

 

“Brimful of joy, hope, and all the feels—I loved it!”—Faith Hogan, bestselling author of The Ladies' Midnight Swimming Club 

 

“I adored this heartwarming and witty book that explores how creativity can spark new connections and fill your life with color. Guaranteed to make you smile.”—Jo Leevers, bestselling author of Tell Me How This Ends 

 

“A lovely, life-affirming novel of friendship, community, and kindness...Sally Page has created a world that feels wonderfully real in the best way possible.”—AJ Pearce, author of Dear Mrs. Bird 

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ABOUT SIX LITTLE WORDS:

SIX LITTLE WORDS follows two strangers embarking together on a Shakespeare-inspired scavenger hunt only to learn that you’re never too old to find love or get another shot at all the happiness this world has to offer. 

If the blossoming romance between Pamela Anderson and Liam Neeson also made your heart swell three times its size or you can't stop binge-watching The Golden Bachelor, then this is the book for you! 

When a simple note pinned to the notice board of her local cafe appears, recently divorced Kate doesn’t think much of it at first.

To be or not to be… It’s only six little words that kick off one of Shakespeare’s most renowned soliloquies. 

Fellow cafe regular, Bardy, experiences the world around him in vivid color. 

But it's been five years since he lost his wife, and he can’t help but feel as though the card is a mirror into the colorless, most broken parts of his past.

Then, another card appears. Then another. As each day brings a brand-new card featuring different lines from Shakespeare’s plays, curiosity ignites throughout the cafe.

Soon, Kate and Bardy find themselves drawn to the clues left behind from these mysterious notes and embark on a creative scavenger hunt that will change their lives forever.

For Kate, it might just offer a second chance at happiness.

For Bardy, it might just unlock not only the bravery needed to finally share his own story, but the bravery needed to open his heart up to love once more. 

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Sally Page is the internationally bestselling author of The Keeper of Stories, The Book of Beginnings, and The Secret of Flowers. 

After studying history at university, Sally moved to London to work in advertising.

In her spare time, she studied floristry, eventually opening up her own flower shop, an experience that offered a unique window into people’s lives that has inspired her writing.

She has two daughters, the author Libby Page and Alex, a doctor. 

She lives in Dorset.

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FIND SALLY:

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Website

Showcase of Bait The Devil by Winter Austin and a Giveaway of An Autographed Print Edition of One of Winter Austin’s Books and Their Choice of a $10 Amazon.com or BN.com Gift Card

BAIT THE DEVIL

by Winter Austin

February 2 - March 13, 2026 

Virtual Book Tour

Synopsis:

A BOUNTY OF SHADOWS

In bounty hunting, clean jobs are a myth. Dot knows—she’s seen the blood.

Dot Ybarra doesn’t bluff. Fresh into her bounty hunting career, she’s already earning a reputation for results. But when a “routine” rogue bounty—taken as a favor to her lawyer cousin—turns lethal, she’s staring down a case with international reach, bodies in its wake, and the stench of power.

Her business partner, T.J. Roman, is hiding a secret. If Dot finds out … well, she can’t find out. It would end the effective partnership they’ve built. But the trail won’t wait. What should have been a clean pickup of a fellow military veteran spirals into a hunt through the shadows, where one wrong move could see them both buried in an unmarked grave.

To stop the predators at the center of a violent trafficking ring, they’ll have to go straight into its core—and make themselves the bait. Every step makes them vulnerable to each other as well.

The devil’s coming for them.

Dot plans to be the one still standing after he bites.

Bait the Devil Trailer:

Book Details:

Genre: Modern Western Thriller
Published by: Tule Mystery
Publication Date: January 19, 2026
Number of Pages: 285
ISBN: 9781969218651 (ISBN10: 1969218657)
Series: A BOUNTY OF SHADOWS, Book 2 {Amazon, Tule}
Book Links: Amazon | Kindle | Barnes & Noble | Apple Books | Goodreads | BookBub | Tule Mystery

Read an excerpt:

From Chapter 1

Two hours later, they had managed to corral the quickly sobering Freddy into the back of the Suburban, with no more eventful chases, and turn him over to the county jail. Freddy’s bail bondsman paid out their fair share of the bond and a huge tip after some hard pressing on T.J.’s part about the circumstances leading up to Freddy’s apprehension. Once the check was cashed, a celebratory late lunch at one of the best Basque eateries Dot had found in Boise was the best way to top off a successful day of bounty hunting.

Parked behind the Bar Gernika, she and T.J. sat in the back end of the Chevy Suburban with the hatch up eating chorizo sandwiches with smoked cod croquetas and a bowl of green olives dripping in garlic olive oil. Dot slurped down half of her Coke, then shook the ice in her cup.

T.J. pointed the remains of his smoked beef chorizo at her. “We should register for the SHOT show in Vegas.”

“Why?”

“Because we can.” T.J. pulled his duh face.

Dot rolled her eyes and bit into her sandwich.

“Have you ever been there?” T.J. asked.

She shook her head, wiping smokey chorizo juice from the corner of her mouth.

“The woman raised to be a hunter and a firearms collector has never been to the great SHOT show?” He lowered his reflective sunglasses and eyed her over the top of the rims. “Never?”

“You do realize my family wasn’t made of money.” Dot popped one of the croquetas into her mouth. “And that’s in the dead of winter, when we couldn’t just up and run off while we were in the middle of lambing season.”

“All the more reason you should go now.” T.J. grinned. “A lot of the best bounty hunters meet up there.”

Dot scowled at her partner and sometimes bunk buddy. “Lemme guess. You wanna show off your shiny new partner to the boys?”

“Maybe.” His grin turned devilish. “Or maybe I wanna see you kick their asses.”

Dot wadded up the sandwich wrapper and chucked it at T.J.’s head. “I’m not a toy.”

The crumbled ball of waxed paper bounced off his forehead and landed on the Suburban floor between them.

“Really? Then why are you so easy to wind up?”

“You sonofa—” Dot lunged for his throat but was quickly subdued.

Their moment of levity was interrupted by a shrill ring from T.J.’s phone.

“Damn it,” he snapped and patted down his body in search for his cell.

Dot found it lying on the makeshift floor behind his hulking frame. She snatched it up and checked the screen. She batted her eyelashes at T.J.

“Don’t you dare,” he snarled.

She pressed the green icon to answer the call. “Well, hello, cousin dearest.”

Lawyer-extraordinaire and covert purveyor of information, Vivian Montgomery was Dot’s second cousin. And apparently had earned a spot on T.J.’s contact list under the moniker of Hot Ass Lawyer.

“Dot? When did you start taking business calls?” Vivian asked, her brisk tone underscored by the sound of her heavy breathing.

“What are you doing?” Dot asked. “You sound like you’re saving the horse and riding a cowboy.”

“Oh, grow up. I’m on a treadmill. Put T.J. on the phone.”

“You shouldn’t run on those things. They destroy your knees and back,” Dot chided.

“When I want health advice from a cigar smoker who jumps from helicopters for fun, I’ll call.”

“I don’t jump from the helo. Unless it’s crashing. Even then, that’s sketchy shit.”

T.J., giving a rumbling growl, jerked the phone from Dot, and pressed it to his ear. “Vivian, what do you need?” He waited a moment, then with another low growl, pulled the phone from his ear and put it on speaker. “You’re on speaker.”

“I need a huge favor from the two of you.”

“When you say huge favor, how huge are we talking?” Dot asked.

“You know, I think I liked you better when you were a brooding, isolated eremite whose main goal in life was equal parts trying to piss off her mother and keep her out of trouble,” Vivian shot back.

“Love you too, coz.”

“Now shut up and let me finish.” The whining sound of the treadmill belt slowing echoed over the phone connection. “I just got a call from one of my colleagues. She had a client fail to appear today.”

“Shouldn’t the defendant’s bail bondsman be calling us?” T.J. asked.

“It’s … complicated.”

Dot smiled as T.J. groaned.

“Vivian, every time you rope us into one of your firm’s problems with their unruly children, we’re out money, time, and patience. We’re called bounty hunters for a reason. Bounty is in the name.”

“Roman, if you keep up the condescending behavior, I’ll expose your dirty little secret.”

“Dirty secret, huh,” Dot piped in. “What’s that?”

He thrust a finger at her nose. “None of your business. Vivian, if you so much as breathe out of line, I’ll make you regret it.”

“Will you do me the favor?”

T.J. stared at Dot, who shrugged as if to say, Why not?

“Fine. Mark my words, I’ll be cashing in on this huge favor sooner than you think.”

“I wouldn’t have bothered you with this, expect the guy is a veteran, and you two being veterans yourself, I figured he’d be more likely to work with you than anyone else.”

“What’s on his file?” Dot asked.

“That’s the complicated part. Officially, his file says he was picked up a third time for carrying with the intent to sell. Unofficially, he’s … classified.”

Dot frowned as she and T.J. locked eyes. As a former army ranger who spent a lot of time flying in and out of forward operating bases in Afghanistan, T.J. knew all about classified situations. Dot, as the main helicopter pilot shuttling him and his team back and forth, though never read in on his actual missions, typically was under strict orders of her own.

“Vivian, I’m not getting fuzzy feelings about this,” T.J. said.

“Neither am I. It’s why I’m calling the two of you in. The judge wants to issue a bench warrant. My colleague was able to ask for a delay before it’s submitted. She was given three hours to present her client or the warrant is released. If you’d rather, you could consider this job PI work instead of fugitive recovery.”

The shingle hanging outside their business office did say private investigators. At this point, that title belonged to T.J. and T.J. alone.

“Still not selling me on this,” he said. “If there’s no bench warrant, there’s no cash for catching him.”

“Hang on.” Vivian spoke to someone, her voice muffled, then she was back. “The firm will pay you a finder’s fee.”

T.J. continued to stare at Dot. She could sense what he was thinking. He was torn. Take this off-the-cuff job and cash in on the favor department with Vivian to help a fellow veteran? Or say fuck it and play hooky for the rest of the day like he’d planned?

Dot didn’t really have much of a say in the business dealings of their partnership since she was eight months into the training phase as a fugitive recovery agent and she wasn’t a licensed PI. It didn’t stop T.J. from pressing her for her opinion, who argued that, because she was about to start taking bounties on her own, she needed to take the reins more often.

“If it helps you make a decision, I’ve got his last known address and a phone number along with a photo,” Vivian said. “This won’t be a hard catch.”

“Stop saying that. Every time you tell me it’s an easy one, it turns into a disaster,” T.J. snarled.

“He’s right,” Dot added.

“Okay, I retract my statement. But, please say yes. Huge favor to me. I’ll do anything.”

“Anything?”

Dot glared at him.

“Within reason,” Vivian shot back.

“We’ll do it,” Dot said, tired of T.J.’s runaround. “Send us the four-one-one, and we’ll go check it out.”

T.J. glared at her; his dark eyes flashed a warning. Dot returned his glare with a smug look of her own that dared him to bring it.

“Thank you, coz. Hurry. There’s only two hours left before the bench warrant goes out. Then it’ll be a free-for-all.”

“You couldn’t have called us about this an hour ago?” T.J. groused.

“Shut your yap, Roman,” Vivian said. “There. Info sent.”

His phone dinged.

“His name is Cade Porter. He was a staff sergeant in the Marine Corps.” Vivian sucked in a breath. “Oooh.”

“Oooh, what?” T.J. insisted.

“If this is right, he was in an artillery unit.”

“Oh my God.” T.J. groaned.

Dot grinned. Not only did acting on a favor for Vivian chafe T.J. in the chaps, but doing it for a Marine with explosives expertise was going to make that chafe burn. Throughout their long, storied history, there had always been a deep-seated friendly animosity between the army and the Marines. Push came to shove, however, they still had each other’s backs.

“If that crayon eater blows us up, I’m going to haunt you,” he said.

“I look forward to the visits. Now get going.” Vivian ended the call.

T.J. shoved his phone in a side pocket of his cargo pants. “Tell me again why we let Vivian help us out?”

“Because,” Dot said as she scooted out of the SUV’s backend, “she’s good for the money. And I trust her intel more than I would some of your bail bondsmen.”

“You say that because you’re biased.”

“Nire familia da. Garrantzitsua da.”

T.J. paused before closing the hatch. “I speak Pashto, Arabic, some Spanish, and Oklahoman. I do not speak Basque.”

Dot chuckled. “Time to learn, Danger Ranger.”

“Load up and let’s roll.”

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Excerpt from Bait the Devil by Winter Austin. Copyright 2026 by Winter Austin. Reproduced with permission from Winter Austin. All rights reserved.

Author Bio:

Winter Austin perpetually answers the question: “were you born in the winter?” with a flat “nope,” but believe her, there is a story behind her name.

A lifelong Mid-West gal with strong ties to the agriculture world, Winter grew up listening to the captivating stories told by relatives around a table or a campfire. As a published author, she learned her glass half-empty personality makes for a perfect suspense/thriller writer. Taking her ability to verbally spin a vivid and detailed story, Winter translated that into writing deadly romantic suspense, mysteries, and thrillers.

When she’s not slaving away at the computer, you can find Winter supporting her daughter in cattle shows, seeing her three sons off into the wide-wide world, loving on her fur babies, prodding her teacher husband, and nagging at her flock of hens to stay in the coop or the dogs will get them.

She is the author of multiple novels.

Catch Up With Winter Austin:

AuthorWinterAustin.com
Amazon Author Profile
Goodreads
BookBub - @WinterAustin
Instagram - @iasuspensewriter
Facebook - @author.winteraustin

 

Tour Participants:

Click through the other tour stops for can’t-miss reviews, insider interviews, exclusive guest posts, and more chances to win!

Click here to view the Tour Schedule

 

 

Saddle Up & Win: Autographed Winter Austin Novel + Gift Card

This giveaway is hosted by Partners in Crime Tours for Winter Austin.

See the widget for entry terms and conditions.

Void where prohibited.

BAIT THE DEVIL by Winter Austin | Gift Card & Book

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Get More Great Reads at Partners In Crime Tours 

Book Blogger Hop - 2/27/2026

                                      

Question of the Week:

When you spot giveaways, do you enter just for fun—even if you’re unsure you’ll read the book—or only when you truly want the title?(submitted by Elizabeth @ Silver's Reviews)

My Answer:

I only enter the giveaway if I know I will read the book.  

I feel that if I enter a giveaway and win, I need to review the book.

But...if I am not really interested in the book and know I won't read it, it isn't fair to enter.

Pinky Swear by Danielle Girard

Lexi hadn't seen Mara for sixteen years, but the day she showed up on Lexi's doorstep saying she needed help, Lexi let her in.

Of course Lexi will help her.  They were best friends in high school until the incident, but that can be forgotten.

As they get reacquainted, Lexi confesses that she can't have children.  As time passes, Mara said she will be the surrogate for Lexi.

But....Mara disappears four days before the baby is due.  Lexi panics and starts to search for Mara.

She finds out more than she really wanted to. 

Mara is not who she says she is, and is a liar.

But where is she?  

Find out in this tense read with secrets that have been kept.  4/5

Thank you to the publisher for a copy of this book.  All opinions are my own.

All In Her Hands by Audrey Blake

We meet Nora a midwife who trained in Italy and then moved to London.

She was readily accepted in Italy, but not in London.   The male doctors didn’t want her around even though she was excellent at her job.

We follow Nora as she delivers many babies safely and then cholera breaks out.

Beautiful writing and a determined woman during the time where women had to struggle to be known for their skills.

It was a bit slow, but the characters will keep you reading.  Nora will be your favorite because she didn't give up.  4/5

Thank you to the publisher for a copy of this book.  All opinions are my own.

Spotlight of A Good Animal by Sara Maurer

PHOTO CREDIT:

TYPORAMA
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A GOOD ANIMAL

SARA MAURER

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ALL INFORMATION IN THIS POST IS TAKEN FROM AN E-MAIL FROM AUSTIN ADAMS, PUBLICIST, AND ST. MARTIN'S PRESS WEBSITE

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A heart-wrenching coming-of-age debut novel by a stunning new voice in fiction, for readers of Barbara Kingsolver and Ann Patchett.

This coming-of-age story set in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula will stay with you long after the last page.

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February 24, 2026

St. Martin's Press

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PRAISE FOR A GOOD ANIMAL:

"A stunning, unforgettable, and deeply American novel." —Julia Phillips, National Book Award finalist and bestselling author of Bear and Disappearing Earth

"Maurer’s prose is undeniably beautiful and evocative." —Kirkus Reviews

"From the first sentence of her debut novel, Sara Maurer transports us to picturesque Sault Ste. Marie, where the rural way of life feels frozen in time. Everett Lindt is certain of his future there, even after he meets a new girl in town with big dreams. With pitch perfect prose, Maurer captures the intensity of Everett’s first love, and the haunting mistakes he makes despite his good intentions." —Tracey Lange, New York Times bestselling author of We Are the Brennans

"A nostalgic and poignant coming-of-age novel that takes place in rural Michigan, A Good Animal will hook you the moment you read the haunting prologue. Maurer juxtaposes a teen's yearning to grow up against not being fully ready for adult responsibilities—along with the contrast of beauty and joy against the sometimes harsh realities of life and death on a farm—and bottles it up into a story of all the ways love shapes us that you won’t want to put down.” —Kristin Koval, author of Penitence

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ABOUT A GOOD ANIMAL:

Staying is his dream. Leaving is hers. One secret threatens them both.

In the farm country outside Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan—a border town where life moves slow and dreams run fast—most kids want out. Not Everett Lindt. He’s set on staying put, rebuilding his family’s sheep farm, and carving a future from the land he loves.

Then he meets Mary, a new girl in town with restless energy and bigger plans. When their relationship reaches a crossroads, Everett sees a life together. Mary, however, is desperate to find a way out. Together, they make an impulsive choice—one that could change everything.

Tense, lyrical, and deeply felt, Sara Maurer's unforgettable debut breathtakingly captures the ache of first love, the beauty and brutality of rural life, and how one decision can echo through generations and shape who we become.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Photo Credit: Libbey Ann Studios

SARA MAURER lives with her family in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

She earned her bachelor's degree from Albion College and her master's from Eastern Michigan University.

She honed her creative writing craft while completing Stanford's Continuing Studies Novel Writing Certificate program.

Her short fiction can be found in Dunes Review, Hominum Journal, and The Twin Bill.

A Good Animal is her first novel.

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SOCIAL LINKS:

Website

Instagram

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