Friday, July 18, 2025
COVER REVEAL of The Woman Downstairs by JD Kirk
Spotlight of All We Trust by Gregory Galloway
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What starts out as a family squabble turns into an international battle between competing crime organizations, moving from small town New England to San Francisco to Mexico.
Thursday, July 17, 2025
FEATURING: The Widow of Wall Street by Randy Susan Meyers
Pulls the reader into the high stakes of Wall Street, the power and lives of the wealthy, and reminds us of the saying: “Money is the root of all evil. “
FULL REVIEW: https://tinyurl.com/2ctcu2ez
Wednesday, July 16, 2025
Wayward Girls by Susan Wiggs
Be prepared to find the truth about these schools known as the Magdalene Laundries where they sent girls back in the 60s for many different reasons.
Some were sent there because of pregnancy - others were sent there just because their parents wanted them out of the house or they couldn’t afford them, but most of the reasons were not really legitimate to keep them.
They didn’t educate them. They used the girls as free labor for doing laundry for local businesses and treated them like prisoners.
These schools were run by nuns with many strict rules, very little nutritious food, horrible punishments, and with the outside world thinking the girls were being treated well and being redeemed.
We meet Mairin, who was dragged there by her mother. While she is there she befriends other girls, but tries to escape every chance she can.
The girls become close and realize they need each other to endure what goes on.
You will love the characters and the lifelong friendships they made, but your heart will break for them.
WAYWARD GIRLS is another marvelously researched, pull-you-in book by Susan Wiggs that will also have you shedding tears.
Be sure to add it to your TBR. 5/5
Thank you to the publisher for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
Tuesday, July 15, 2025
The Lake Escape by Jamie Day
Your huge new house is blocking my lake view.
The house started off the not-so-good summer for the life long friends, and it wasn't the worst thing that happened or that was discovered.
Julia, David, and Erika have spent summers at the lake all their lives.
Everyone has changed and everyone has secrets as we meet two new characters this year - David's young girlfriend, Fiona, and the nanny, Izzy, for David's four-year-old twins.
When David's girlfriend goes missing the first night she is there, everyone wonders if the lake claimed her like it did two other girls more than thirty years ago.
And who deleted the security footage from the exact time Fiona went missing.
How is this summer going to turn out?
Will there be another victim?
What other information will surface?
Find out in this slow moving read with a lot of characters to keep track of and characters with secrets and agendas of their own. 4/5
Thank you to the publisher for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
Monday, July 14, 2025
Spotlight of Bottom of the Breath by Jayne Mills
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For fans of Liane Moriarty and Maria Semple, this contemporary debut novel weaves together romance, mystery, and adventure as a woman travels to the Grand Canyon seeking answers to an old family secret.
“An engrossing and often moving novel about the ways in which disaster can create newfound fortitude.”— Kirkus Reviews
“Mills’s efficient prose sketches an entirely believable landscape in Cyd’s mind, roiling with confusion over the breakdown of her marriage and the shocking revelations about her family. Cyd’s mental state unfolds through intermittent flashbacks of marital ups and downs, her childhood, and the family secrets that drive the novel, all delivered with rich symbolism. Mills even uses an incoming hurricane as a token of the emotional storms brewing in Cyd’s life… Mills effectively examines the self-destructive thought patterns women often fall into in their quest for happiness… Readers will savor Cyd’s intense journey, rooting for her to navigate her trauma and emerge on the other side, ready to become a woman who “believed she would find her way.”— Publishers Weekly BookLife
“Jayne Mills’s Bottom of the Breath is about struggle and acceptance, secrets and losses—and also both frank and hopeful, a willing and wise embrace of what is.”—Michelle Wildgen, author of Wine People
“Mills drops her readers into the middle of a life, a marriage, and a quest for answers about the past and future, in other words, into a situation we can all relate to. Set against the grandeur of the American Southwest, this is a story of seeking—not only for answers but the physical strength and spiritual clarity needed to recover from a profound emotional blow. Guided by an eclectic cast of characters, this inspiring journey takes us to the depths of the Grand Canyon and reveals the resilience of the human heart.”
—Kerry Sanders, Today Show Correspondent (retired)
“Finely crafted and emotionally rich, Bottom of the Breath is a captivating debut from a fresh voice in fiction . . .”—Deborah Sharp, author of the Mace Bauer Mystery Series
“The novel examines the complexity of human emotions, the strength found in vulnerability, and the power of taking control when life feels unmanageable. It captures the beauty of introspection and the courage to embrace change. . . . a contemporary drama about the human condition.”—Reader’s Favorite, FIVE STARS
ABOUT BOTTOM OF THE BREATH:
After crashing into a devastating revelation, Cyd’s tranquil life on the Florida panhandle is upended when she receives a letter announcing an inheritance from an estranged aunt.
The inheritance contains mysterious “items of a personal nature” which Cyd must collect in person halfway across the country.
In a last attempt to salvage her deteriorating marriage, Cyd agrees to travel with her husband on what he promises—and she questions—will be the trip of a lifetime.
As they set out, a hurricane threatens their hometown.
Fueled by the growing threat of the storm and the tension brewing between them, the couple’s long-suppressed problems erupt. Cyd continues the journey on her own, unsure if either her home or her marriage will survive.
Clues and instinct lead Cyd to Sedona and then to the Grand Canyon.
She descends into the vast chasm alone searching for answers to newly raised questions and age-old mysteries.
She steps off the beaten path, literally, knowing she must make peace with her pain-filled past and her uncertain future.
The narrative delves into themes of self-discovery, the complexities of marriage, the impact of family legacies, and the resilience required to navigate life's challenges.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Jayne Mills is a financial advisor who has secretly nurtured a lifelong dream of writing a novel.
She expressed her literary aspirations through Financial Wellness Monthly , a newsletter combining her interests in finance, yoga, and meditation.
Additionally, she developed a program called The Wealth-Wellness Connection, designed to help people better understand their complex relationships with money.
Jayne holds degrees in journalism and finance and is a registered yoga teacher.
In recent years, her favorite way to vacation is as the navigator in a custom van (she hates talking maps) on a quest to visit every national park with her partner (he knows better than to ever let her drive) and their Border Collie, Elvis.
She lives peacefully in St. Augustine, Florida
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Connect with Jayne: