Thursday, September 21, 2023

Spotlight and Giveaway of Dead West by Linda L. Richards

Dead West

by Linda L Richards

 

September 4 - 29, 2023 Virtual Book Tour

Dead West by Linda L Richards Banner

SYNOPSIS:

Still struggling towards the light, this time the assignment is to save, not kill.

Taking lives has taken its toll. Her moral justifications have faltered. Do any of the the people she has killed — some of them heinous, but all of them human — deserve to die?

Dead West by Linda L Richards
Her next target is Cameron Walker, a rancher in Arizona. When she arrives at his remote desert estate to carry out her orders, she discovers that he is a kind and beautiful man. After a lengthy tour of the ranch, not only has she not killed him, she’s wondering who might want him dead.

She procrastinates long enough that a vibe grows between them. At the same time, she learns that he’s passionate about wild horses and has been fighting a losing political battle to save the mustangs that live on protected land near his property. He’s even received death threats from those who oppose him.

She finds herself trying to protect the man she was sent to kill, following a trail that leads from the desert, to the Phoenix cognoscenti, to the highest offices in Washington, DC. Along the way she encounters kidnappers and killers, horse thieves and even human traffickers. Hopefully she can figure out who ordered the hit before they hire someone else to execute the assignment.

PRAISE FOR DEAD WEST:

"Linda L. Richards delivers yet another riveting entry in her hired killer series. Set mostly in Arizona desert country, Dead West is a dust devil of a story, twisting in wildly unpredictable ways and with a powerful emotional center. But this book isn’t just a marvelously compelling thriller; it also cries out passionately for protection of the endangered wild horses of the West. Kudos to Richards for seamlessly weaving an important message into the fabric of a terrific tale."
~ William Kent Krueger, New York Times bestselling author

"When a contract killer’s wounded conscience begins to awaken, it only heightens the dangers of her profession. In Dead West, the incomparable Linda L. Richards poses the possibility of redemption and recovery for her tragic heroine, all while sending her – and us – on a deadly thrill ride through the stunning Arizona wilderness."
~ Clea Simon, Boston Globe bestselling author

BOOK DETAILS:

Genre: Thriller, Noir, Suspense
Published by: Oceanview Publishing
Publication Date: September 2023
Number of Pages: 320
ISBN: 9781608095124 (ISBN10: 1608095126)
Series: The Endings Series, Book 3
Book Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads | Oceanview Publishing

READ AN EXCERPT:

CHAPTER ONE

I’m sitting on a beach. It’s a ridiculous proposition. Fluffy white clouds are scudding through a clear, blue sky. Surfers are running around carrying boards, often over their heads. Then they plunge into a sea that looks deadly to my non-surfing eyes. Palm trees are waving, and the air is so neutral, you don’t have to think about it. Soft, welcoming air. You just float right through.

The view is beautiful. It’s like a movie backdrop. A painting. Something skillfully manufactured to look hyper-real. Textbook paradise, that’s what I’m talking about.

I’m sitting on this beach, trying not to think about the reason I’m here. But it’s hard. Difficult. To not think about it, I mean. I’m here, in paradise, because someone has to die.

Someone will die.

I got the assignment a few days ago. I flew to this island to pull it off.

My target is a businessman who lives on this island in the South Pacific. He is the kind of self-made guy who has achieved every goal in life and would seem to have everything to live for. Only now, apparently, someone wants him dead because here I am, ready for business.

So I stake him out. You need to understand at least the basics of who someone is before you snuff them out. This is the idea that I have. I’m not going all sensitive on you or anything, that’s just how it is. In order to do the best possible job in this business, you need to understand a little about who they are. It’s not a rule or anything, it’s just how I feel.

His name is Gavin White, and I researched him a bit before I got here. He made his fortune in oil and wax, which is an odd enough combo that you perk up your ears. Only it doesn’t seem to matter: the source of the income would seem to have nothing to do with the hit. Would seem to, because there is only so much I can learn about that, really. On the surface, anyway, I can find no direct connection between Gavin White’s livelihood and the death that someone has planned for him and that I am now further planning.

I follow him and his S560 cabriolet all over the tropical island. He makes a few stops. I watch what he does, how he moves and who he interacts with. Some of it might matter. I’m not doing it for my health. I’m watching him so I can determine when I might best have advantage when I go to take him out. There are always multiple times and different places to fulfill my assignment and usually only one—or maybe two—that are virtually flawless. Sometimes not even that. So I watch.

And it’s more than an opportunity I’m looking for, though that can play a part. It’s also a matter of identifying what will make my job not only easier, but also safest from detection. And so I watch. And I wait.

As I follow him, he stops first at a bank. Does some business— I’ll never know what. After that he visits his mom. At least, I guess it is his mom. An older woman he seems affectionate with. From my rental car, I can see them through a front room window. There is a hug and then a wave. It could be a bookkeeper for all I know. But mom is what I guess.

After a while he heads to the beach. He sits on the sand, contemplative for a while. I think about taking him there; full contemplation. But it is crude and much too exposed.

More time passes before he takes off his shoes, leaves them on the beach, and walks into the surf. I leave my car and take up a spot on the sand, just plopping myself down not far from his shoes.

I watch him surreptitiously. It is obvious he did not come to the beach to swim. He is fully clothed and he hasn’t left a towel behind there with his shoes. There is none of the paraphernalia one associates with a visit to the beach, even if this were one that is intended for swimming, which it is not. Signs warn of possible impending doom for those who venture into the water.

“Strong current,” warns one sign under a fluorescent flag. “If in doubt, don’t go out.”

“Dangerous shore break,” warns another. “Waves break in shallow water. Serious injuries could occur, even in small surf.”

I don’t know if Gavin White read the signs, or noticed them, but even though he is still fully clothed, he steps into the water anyway.

First, he gets his feet wet. Not long after, he wades in up to his knees. He hesitates when the water is at mid-thigh, and he stops there. For a while, it seems to me, it is like a dance. He stands facing the horizon, directly in front of where I sit. His shoulders are squared. There is something stoic in his stance. I can’t explain it. Squared and stoic.

Waves break against him, push him back. He allows the push, then makes his way back to the spot where he had stood before.

Before long, he ventures deeper still. The dance. I watch for a while, fascinated. I wonder if there is anything I should do. But no. The dance. Two steps forward, then the waves push him back.

And now he is in deeper still, and further from shore. I see a wave engulf him completely, and I hold my breath. He doesn’t struggle, but then I see him rise, face the horizon, square his shoulders.

The waves are strong and beautiful. And they are eerily clear, those waves. Sometimes I can see right inside them. Careful glass tubes of water, I can even observe that from shore.

For a while he stands like that, facing the horizon—a lull in the action of the waves. And then he is engulfed once again. I hold my breath, but this time he doesn’t rise.

I sit there for a long time, considering. And waiting. My breathing shallow. But he doesn’t reappear.

After half an hour, I text my handler.
“It is done,” is all I say, just as I know she will expect.
It was not my hand, but the mission has been accomplished regardless. No one knows better than me that there are many ways to die.

CHAPTER TWO

There are many ways to die.
I think I have died many times. Certainly, I’ve wanted to.
I died when I lost my child. Died later when I lost my husband, even though by then there was little love left between us. Still. I died.

I died the first time I took someone’s life. At the time it felt like living, but I didn’t yet know the difference. And then there was the time I had to kill someone I loved. I died that time, too.

Sometimes I believe I have died so much that I’ve forgotten how to live. That I should most correctly walk into a waiting undertow just like Gavin White did. I don’t know what stops me, honestly. I don’t. Though there are days when it’s a very close thing.

This isn’t one of those days.

When my phone rings, it tells me the call is coming from Kiribati, a place I’ve barely heard of before. All of her calls are like that. Routed through some other place. They might be chosen for their convenience, but I think they are also selected for the mirth they might provide. I’m not certain she has a wicked sense of humor, but I suspect it, pretty much.

She never used to call me. For a long time, it was text and email only, secure channels always. And then the calls began. I imagined that it meant we had developed some sort of connection. I no longer wonder about that now.

Whatever the meaning, the calls have never been from normal places; they don’t come from the places one might expect. And none have been from the same odd place twice. They are chosen for some reason I don’t understand. Some inside joke I stand outside of. She can be cryptic that way. Another reason I guess I imagined for a while that we belonged.

“That was efficient,” is what she says by way of greeting.

“What do you mean?” I figure I actually know, but it makes no sense to admit that going in.

“He walked into the sea,” she says. How does she know that? It makes me wonder, but not deeply. It would not be the first time I’ve wondered if there is someone who watches the hunter. It would even make a dark sort of sense.

“Yes,” I say, unquestioning. She has her ways. “That’s right. He did.”

“Hmmm,” she says. And then again, “Hmmm.”

“There are many ways to die,” I say, and by now it feels like gospel. Something sacred. And more true than true. “What I really don’t understand,” I say, sailing into a different direction, “is that you said things weren’t going to be like this anymore.”

“Excuse me?” I am put off by her tone. Surprised. It comes to me from a new place. Unexpected. And she doesn’t back away from it. Goes on just as strongly, instead. “What do you mean by that?” It’s a challenge.

“I’m trying to think how you put it,” I say. “Something about how things have been wrong with the world. How we could . . . how we could make it right.”

“Did I say that?”

“You did,” I reply.

“I do maybe remember something like that. Maybe.”

I feel my heart sink a bit at her words. And why? I can’t even quite put my finger on it. It felt, maybe, like I might be part of something. Again. And now? Now I’m not.

“You did say that,” I say it quietly though. Almost as an aside.

“These things take time, as it turns out. One can’t just flip a switch.” I can hear her pushing on, rushing through. “Meanwhile, I’ve got another one for you,” she says, and I’m relieved that she has tacitly agreed to leave the drowned man to sink or swim. Disappointed by how easily the hopeful words she’d fed me not so long ago could be pushed to one easy side. Disappointed and relieved all in one gulp. It’s an odd thing to feel. I find I don’t like it. “So if you’re ready,” she says.

“Another what?” I ask it, but I suspect I know.

“Job,” she replies, and I wonder why I wasted breath.

“I’m ready enough,” I say, though I’m struggling. I struggle every time.

“Good,” she says. “I’ll send you the details, but I think the juxtaposition of these two will amuse you.”

“How so?” And I try not to digest the irony around any aspect of a contract killing being amusing.

“Well, you’ve just been in the Pacific. Water, water everywhere.

And now you’re heading for the desert.” “I am?”

“You are. Right out into it, in fact. The target is in Arizona.” “Phoenix?” Which is all I really know of Arizona.

“You’ll fly to Phoenix, but, no: the target is near a national park.

Rural. A place you won’t have heard of before, I’m betting. I’ll send the details once I’m off this call.”

When I first get off the phone, I try not to think about it too much. It’s like my brain doesn’t want me to pay attention. Or something. But I put off checking my email. I’ll do it later. Right now, there are things that need my attention.

Okay. “Need” would be an overstatement. There are things. I choose to give them my time. Walks in the forest with the dog. Cooking succulent meals for one. And recently, I have taken up plein air painting, simply because it was there.

When I want to paint, I take the dog and my gear and we hike out to some remote spot and I set up my stuff and I paint what I see. Try to paint what I see. The dog meanwhile amuses himself— chasing squirrels, digging holes, sniffing his own butt. He’s very skilled at self-amusement. I’ve never seen anything like it.

In less clement weather we hunker down and brave it out. I make a fire in the fireplace because it’s beautiful, not because we need the warmth.

There is something idyllic to this life. Easy. After a while it gets even easier to forget . . . forget what? Everything, really. It gets easier to forget to remember.

I paint the dog. My online classes have gone well enough, and I have proven to be a good enough student—and the dog a good enough subject—that I end up with a pretty credible representation of him; something I am proud to hang. And even if I wasn’t, it’s not like anyone is ever going to see.

***

Excerpt from Dead West by Linda L Richards. Copyright 2023 by Linda L Richards. Reproduced with permission from Linda L Richards. All rights reserved.

Linda L Richards

AUTHOR BIO:

Linda L. Richards is the award-winning author of over a dozen books. The founder and publisher of January Magazine and a national board member of Sisters in Crime, she is best known for her strong female protagonists in the thriller genre. Richards is from Vancouver, Canada and currently makes her home in Phoenix, Arizona. Richards is an accomplished horsewoman and an avid tennis player. She enjoys yoga, hiking, cooking and playing guitar, though not at the same time.

You can find her at:
LindaLRichards.com
Goodreads
BookBub - @linda1841
Instagram - @lindalrichards
Twitter - @lindalrichards
Facebook - @lindalrichardsauthor
TikTok - @lindalrichards

Learn More about Linda in this #AuthorInterview!

 

TOUR PARTICIPANTS:

Visit these other great hosts on this tour for more great reviews, interviews, guest posts, and opportunities to WIN in the giveaway!

 

 

ENTER FOR A CHANCE TO WIN:

This is a giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Tours for Linda L Richards. 
See the widget for entry terms and conditions. 
Void where prohibited.

 

 

Get More Great Reads at Partners In Crime Tours

 

Wednesday, September 20, 2023

Tuesday, September 19, 2023

Spotlight of Murder and Mamon by Mia P. Manansala


PHOTO SOURCE:
TYPORAMA

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MURDER AND MAMON
MIA P. MANANSALA
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ALL INFORMATION IN THIS POST IS COURTESY OF TARA O'CONNOR | SENIOR PUBLICIST | BERKLEY, AN IMPRINT OF PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE.

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Readers can expect the next deliciously deadly installment in Agatha Award-winning author Mia P. Manansala’s Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mysteries.


Lila Macapagal lives in small town Shady Palms, Illinois, where she and her relatives run Tita Rosie’s Kitchen. 

 

They serve delicious Filipino dishes, and they solve crimes on the side. 

 

In MURDER AND MAMON, the fourth highly anticipated novel in Manansala’s series, homicide follows Lila and her aunties to the grand opening of their new laundromat—and Lila will have to air out everyone’s dirty laundry to find the killer.


MURDER AND MAMON is perfect for readers of Jesse Q. Sutanto and Roselle Lim, and for fans of cozy mysteries and romantic comedies.

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September 19, 2023
Berkley Prime Crime Trade Original
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PRAISE FOR THE SERIES:
 
"Though the effervescent delights of Manansala’s opening salvo, Arsenic and Adobo, are still very much in evidence, now Lila’s world feels richer and more fully imagined. Manansala has become truly enmeshed in her characters’ lives, and it shows.”The New York Times

“Sorry, other food cozies. You can’t hold a candle to this mouthwatering franchise.”
—Kirkus Reviews
 
**PRAISE TAKEN FROM THE BOOK'S AMAZON PAGE** 
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ABOUT MURDER AND MAMON:

The grand opening of Lila’s family’s new laundromat quickly turns from celebration to tragedy when the building is vandalized and a relative who recently came to visit from the Philippines is found dead inside. 

The Calendar Crew (Lila’s crime-solving aunties, April, Mae, and June) have stuck their noses into everybody’s business for years. 

Now, the tables have turned as Lila must pry into the Calendar Crew’s lives to figure out who has a vendetta against the aunties and stop them before they strike again.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Mia P. Manansala (she/her) is a writer and book coach from Chicago who loves books, baking, and bad-ass women. She uses humor (and murder) to explore aspects of the Filipino diaspora, queerness, and her millennial love for pop culture.

A lover of all things geeky, Mia spends her days procrastibaking, playing JRPGs and dating sims, reading cozy mysteries, and cuddling her dogs Gumiho, Max Power, and Bayley Banks (bonus points if you get all the references).

Her debut novel, ARSENIC AND ADOBO, comes out May 4, 2021 with Berkley/Penguin Random House and is the first in the Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mystery series.

Find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram: @MPMtheWriter

**AUTHOR INFORMATION AND PHOTO TAKEN FROM AUTHOR'S AMAZON PAGE**

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Monday, September 18, 2023

The Midwife of Berlin by Anna Stuart

We meet Ester as she thankfully is leaving after surviving Auschwitz, but sadly leaving without her daughter that the Nazis ripped from her arms after giving birth in the camp.

We then meet Ester as she works as a midwife and is still looking for her daughter who has a tattoo under her arm that Ester put there so she could be identified after the war.

She had no luck but did adopt Olivia who we meet as she is chosen to train for the Olympics.

We also meet Kirsten and Uli. Kristen was adopted and her brother Uli who was born after his mother was raped during the war.
 
We follow all the characters as they struggle with what happened to them and the devastation they felt when secrets about them were revealed.

I enjoyed the personal side of this marvelously researched book and learning about the Berlin Wall. 

Ms. Stuart truly lets the reader feel the horrors of Auschwitz and what the residents went through for 28 years with the Berlin Wall.

Historical fiction fans and fans of this time in history will devour this book.  4/5

Thank you to the publisher for an advanced reader copy.  All opinions are my own.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Anna Stuart lives in Derbyshire with her campervan-mad husband, two hungry teenagers and a slightly loopy dog. 

She was hooked on books from the moment she first opened one in her cot so is thrilled to now have several of her own to her name. 

Having studied English literature at Cambridge university, she took an enjoyable temporary trip into the ‘real world’ as a factory planner, before returning to her first love and becoming an author. 

History has also always fascinated her. Living in an old house with a stone fireplace, she often wonders who sat around it before her and is intrigued by how actively the past is woven into the present, something she likes to explore in her novels. 

Anna loves the way that writing lets her ‘try on’ so many different lives, but her favourite part of the job is undoubtedly hearing from readers. 

You can reach her on Facebook @annastuartauthor or Twitter @annastuartbooks.

It's Monday!! What are YOU Reading? - 9/18/2023

http://bookdate.blogspot.com/

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I hope you had a great reading week.
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This is a weekly meme hosted by Kathryn at BOOK DATE!

Post the books completed, the books you are currently reading, and the books you hope to finish at some point.
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NOT SURE WHY THINGS ARE OFF KILTER - BLOGGER DOES THAT AT TIMES.
 
AND...THE TOP HALF OF THE POST IS MISSING.  
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Books Completed:
 
DREAMING OF WATER by A. J. Banner - review will be on October 10.
 
Oh my goodness....SO GOOD - MYSTERY.

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STREET CORNER DREAMS - review will be on November 16.
 
LOVED IT - a lovely read, but tissues needed at times.
 
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A TRAITOR IN WHITEHALL by Julia Kelly - review will be on October 3.
 
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THESE STILL BLACK WATERS by Christina McDonald - review will be on October 1.
 
A little confusing, but a good thriller.
 
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THE GERMAN DRESSMAKER by Susan Shalev - review will be on September 29.
 
LOVED IT...excellent read.
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THE R0ARING DAYS OF ZORA LILY by Noelle Salazar - review will be on October 6.  
 
LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this book.
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BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CHRISTMAS by Mary Kay Andrews - review will be on September 26. 
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THE MIDWIFE OF BERLIN by Anna Stuart - review will be on September 18.
 
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THE ROYAL WINDSOR SECRET
by Christine Wells - review is in the book's title.
 
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THE STRANGER UPSTAIRS by Lisa M. Matlin - review is in the book's title.
 
 
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THE HOTEL by Emily Shiner - review is in the book's title.

Very good thriller.
 
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THE WIFE IN THE PHOTO by Emily Shiner - review is in the book's title.
 
First time reading this author.  Excellent thriller.
 
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Book Currently Reading:
 
THE ROAD TO SOMORROSTRO by Julie Slack - review will be on October 16.
 
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Books Up Next:
 
SISTERS UNDER THE RISING SUN by Heather Morris - review will be on October 24.

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DEADLY TIDES by Mary Keliikoa - review will be on October 25.
 
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WHEN I'M DEAD by Hannah Morrissey - review will be on October 31.
 
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THE PORCELAIN MAKER by Sarah Freethy - review will be on November 7.
 
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THE ENGAGEMENT PARTY by Darby Kane - review will be on December 6.
 
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THE WISHING BRIDGE by Viola Shipman - review will be on November 8.
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THE FICTION WRITER by Jillian Cantor - review will be on November 28.
 
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PERFECT LITTLE LIVES by Amber Brown and Danielle Brown - review will be on December 7.
 
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THE VACATION by John Marrs - review will be on December 19.
 
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THE PARIS HOUSEKEEPER by Renee Ryan - review will be on December 26.
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TWO DEAD WIVES by Adele Parks - review will be on December 29.
 
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THE LOST VAN GOGH by Jonathan Santlofer - review will be on January 2, 2024.
 
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THE HEIRESS by Rachel Hawkins - review will be on January 9, 2024
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ONLY IF YOU'RE LUCKY by Stacy Willingham - review will be on January 16.
 
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NORTHWOOD by Amy Pease - review will be on January 11.
 
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UNSINKABLE by Jenni L. Walsh - review will be on January 19, 2024.
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RADIANT HEAT by Sarah-Jane Collins - review will be on January 23, 2023.
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TWENTY-SEVEN MINUTES by Ashley Tate - review will be on January 30.
 
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EVERYONE WHO CAN FORGIVE ME IS DEAD by Jenny Hollander - review will be on February 6.
 
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THE QUEENS OF LONDON by Heather Webb - review will be on February 7, 2024.
 
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THE GUEST by B. A. Paris - review will be on February 20, 2024.
 
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THE TROUBLE WITH YOU by Ellen Feldman - review will be on February 21.
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BYE, BABY by Carola Lovering - review will be on March 5, 2024.

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THE GIRLS WE SENT AWAY by Meagan Church - review will be on March 6.
 
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MURDER ROAD by Simone St. James - review will be on march 8, 2024.
 
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DARLING GIRLS by Sally Hepworth - review will be on April 23, 2024.
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