"Unforgotten" by Shelley Shepard Gray

Unforgotten (Nov. 5, 2024) by Shelley Shepard Gray.*

<This is the second book in a series.>

Seven years after an attempted assault and the accidental death of attacker Peter Miller, Bethanne Hostetler is taking steps forward. She’s no longer hiding in her room, and she’s leaving her parents’ home on her own. She watches as her Englischer cousin, Candace Evans, is crowned Miss Crittenden County and pops up unexpectedly at Jay Byler’s workplace. Jay was once Peter’s best friend, and Bethanne avoids him because of that connection, though it’s Jay who has always adored Bethanne and feels guilty that he didn’t know what Peter was capable of. Bethanne is slowly opening up her heart to his kindness and gentle caring, but when Candace reveals that she has a stalker, old fears come rushing in.

            Officer Ryan Mulaney is new to Marion and Crittenden County, Kentucky. A Northerner from Connecticut, his position on the police force isn’t permanent. While it seems like grunt work to be assigned to accompany Candace to her appearances around the county, Ryan finds that he would loathe any other officer accompanying her, though he tries to maintain professionalism. When Candace’s stalker endangers both Candace and Bethanne, Ryan, Jay, local law enforcement and both families race against time to save them.

            This Christian, contemporary, romantic suspense novel is also part Amish fiction. It’s a story of learning to trust and love after past trauma and holding onto faith when despair wants to set in. It’s a clean love story. It is easy to root for sweet Bethanne and considerate Jay, as Bethanne gets back on her feet, for they’ve known each other since they were kids. I did not connect with Candace’s and Ryan’s whirlwind spin to falling in love. I believe that kind of love can happen, but the way it’s written felt rushed and not genuine. The plot is fairly propulsive, and fans of the author’s work won’t want to miss this one. For me, though, it’s a 3.5/5.

            Book 1: Unforgiven

* Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Revell Books. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions are expressly my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

"A Healing Touch" by Suzanne Woods Fisher

A Healing Touch (Oct. 1, 2024) by Suzanne Woods Fisher.*

<This is a standalone novel with overlapping Stoney Ridge characters.>

The kind of doctor who still believes in house calls, Ruth “Dok” Stoltzfus is in tune with addressing her patients’ physical needs as well as their emotional ones. When newly widowed Bee Bennett, breeder of Dutch Warmbloods, is facing breast cancer, Dok connects her with Fern Lapp. Bee doesn’t think she needs to talk to anyone, especially an Amishwoman that she expects to have zero connection with. Annie Fisher is Dok’s painfully shy office assistant, but she’s got a great mind for medical information and a calm demeanor in intense situations. When Annie feels called to something else, Dok will move mountains to help her, and she’ll recruit her brother David, Stoney Ridge’s Amish bishop, to assist. Annie will also discover that there just might be a young man out there that she’d like to marry. He happens to be an Amish EMT in a nearby town. And when an abandoned newborn mysteriously appears on the front step of her clinic one cold morning, Dok’s world takes a very unexpected turn.

            Anytime I pick up a novel by Suzanne Woods Fisher, I trust that it will be an excellent read. Yet again, this trust remains firm. The characters are endearing, if sometimes loud (Hank Lapp) or nosy (Sarah Blank, Annie’s friend), the plot is well-defined, the writing is engaging, and the setting is as charming as your most perfect day. It’s a delight to delve into this tight-knit community, strong of faith, but with very human struggles, too (e.g. extreme shyness, even a lack of faith). The author mesmerizes us with this Christian, contemporary Amish romance that encourages the soul like good medicine.

* Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Revell Books. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions are expressly my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

"Fate Breaker" by Victoria Aveyard

Fate Breaker (Feb. 27, 2024) by Victoria Aveyard.

<This is the final novel in a trilogy.>

All must rise to fight or be destroyed by Queen Erida and Taristan, Prince of Old Cor, and her consort. The Companions have been rent from one another and are scattered over parts of Allward. Corayne an-Amarat forges on alone until the Elders of Sirandel in The Castlewood find her. Her Spindleblade lies broken amongst the ruins of Gidastern, but she’s taken Taristan’s, now the only Spindleblade in existence. Without it, he can’t open any Spindles or end the world, but with the might of Erida’s Gallish legion, the areas they’ve conquered, the Ashlanders (now with the newly dead from Gidastern and the battle that raged there) and their demon god, What Waits, power still rages from them, and they don’t plan to burn. The Companions, unsure where the others are and assuming the worst, are, all the same, converging on one spot for the final battle: Iona, the seat of the largest of the Elder enclaves. Andry Trelland is with Valtik – she’s probably the only one everyone feels assured is alive – Sorasa Sarn, Domacridhan of Iona and Sigaalbeta “Sigil” Bhur Bhar end up captured, and Charlon Armont runs away from Gidastern in fear and cowardice, but he’s bolstered and finds new courage when he reunites with his love, Garion, an Amhara assassin (but unlike Sorasa, he’s not exiled). Who will answer the call to action? The famed and feared Countless of the Temurijon (“The iron bones of the Countless will never be broken.”)? Who will arrive in time? The realm is vast, and travel isn’t swift, especially with the monsters of other realms lurking in the seas (krakens) and in the air (dragons). The battle of a lifetime is coming, and it will wait for no one.

            Here, evil is dynamic, the villains are complex, the heroes are a diverse and unlikely group, and goodness seems more a concept than anything tangible. With the Companions scattered throughout much of the book, having multiple narrators is helpful instead of overwhelming. The ultimate novel in the Realm Breaker trilogy, despite its 625 pages, has a continual sense of urgency. The final battle is expectedly fierce, like something epic in a Lord of the Rings movie, but (POSSIBLE SPOILER) the redemption arc right near the end fills me with disappointment. My expectation that there’d be a satisfying comeuppance didn’t come to pass, hence, I suppose, the disappointment. All the same, this YA fantasy is epic, fierce and ruthless. There is nothing haphazard about Aveyard’s writing. She’s an author who knows what she’s doing.

            Book 1: Realm Breaker

            Book 2: Blade Breaker

"The Blooming of Delphinium" by Holly Varni

The Blooming of Delphinium (Sept. 24, 2024) by Holly Varni.*

<This is the second novel in a series.>

When it comes to hidden talents, Delphinium Hayes has a unique one. She’s a synesthete and knows someone’s best or worst characteristic with one whiff of a person. Only she will smell their unique floral (or herbal) scent. For example, honeysuckle means bonded with love, while petunia always indicates anger and resentment. Her parents have never understood her, and the one person who did, Annie (her grandmother), has passed away. Her nose always knows until two men flabbergast her scent-driven world. Mason McCormack, real estate lawyer, is a player who uses Delphinium’s bouquets to impress and break up with women, and she cannot smell him. That’s never happened before.

            Then there’s Elliot Sturgis, the clean-cut, uptight-looking director of The Gardens Assisted Living Facility who’s so put together that he looks like he should be her parents’ kid. He smells like violets, and those individuals exude a “high standard of loyalty and love.” His scent is so intoxicating that she too easily loses her train of thought. He likes rules and maintaining order. Some of his mature residents at The Gardens do not appreciate this. They want tater tots twice a week, and Bob would eat tapioca every day. The residents continue to hang out at Delphinium’s shop long after the A/C is fixed at The Gardens, and they no longer have to hang out in Delphinium’s floral refrigerator to keep cool. The residents claim that Elliot lets them keep coming to her shop, because he has a crush on her. Sparks are definitely flying, but Delphinium’s got more on her mind. Her shop is about to be foreclosed on. This shop is her dream, for she loves flowers, but it’s also her tie to her late grandmother. How can love bloom when she’s mired in failure?

            Moonberry Lake is a fictional small town in Minnesota, and this second in the Moonberry Lake series is overall charming. There’s one moment where Delphinium’s outburst strikes me as childish, and it read as contemporary fiction versus Christian contemporary fiction, so subtle seems the faith or even faith’s growth (it is there, though). Delphinium is spirited in her bright, floral prints, and I chuckled aloud multiple times, just as I teared up when an earthly goodbye sprouted up. It’s refreshing like a cool drink and sweet, but not toothache-inducing sweet. As a Minnesotan, I can’t help but adore a Minnesota setting, even fictional, and Moonberry Lake is exactly the idyllic town I’d love to visit. Four out of five floral bouquets!

            Book One: On Moonberry Lake

* Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Revell Books. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions are expressly my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

"A Drop of Venom" by Sajni Patel

A Drop of Venom (Jan. 16, 2024) by Sajni Patel.

<This is the first novel in a duology.>

<This novel does contain a trigger warning.>

Monsters come in all forms. To 16-year-old Manisha, it’s the King’s army. Those beasts have forced her people, the naga, to flee their home in Anand. Many have died. Manisha’s sent to the coveted floating mountains at age 11 and the sacred temples there. She’s an apsara, chosen for her beauty. Visitors to the floating mountains can’t so much as touch an apsara, but far from remaining safe, Manisha is viciously assaulted, declared “defiled” by the new High Priestess who’s always hated her, and is literally kicked off the floating mountains, landing in a pit of vipers. Amazingly, she survives and emerges with power she never knew she could possess. Her blood, even her spit, can turn people to stone. All Manisha wants is to find her family. Is her mother alive? Her twin sisters, Eshani (the eldest) and Sithara?

            To 17-year-old Pratyush, the famed slayer of monsters and last of his line, monsters are what he hunts to kill. Supposedly, years are added to his life for each monster slain. Supposedly, he slays enough monsters, and he’ll gain the house and peaceful, quiet life he so desires. Though he was raised to treat women as equals, Pratyush knows men who are monsters. He’s seen it with some of the men in his group, and his beloved sister was once assaulted by her betrothed. Despite being a powerful warrior, he’s nothing but a possession of the terrible King. He couldn’t save his sister, and she died. Pratyush is sent with the worthless General and a group of men to slay one more monster. A nagin. The “monster” he seeks is the woman he actually wants to marry.

            Be brave. Be cunning. Be strong. For anyone looking for a laidback story, this is not it. Patel unflinchingly tackles misogyny, sexual assault and rape culture, the trauma that comes from those experiences and tempers it with star-crossed love, sisterhood (by blood and not) and the love of family. This is set against a backdrop of mythic monster creatures and monster men and combines the Indian mythology of the naga with the Greek mythology of Medusa. The result, while upsetting to witness, is electrifying and powerful. Told from the viewpoints of Manisha and Pratyush, this fantasy/mythology is fast-paced with fantastic world-building. This dark-yet-dynamic duology opener can “adorn the world in beauty or control the world with greed.” The stakes are high, the battles are fierce, and there will be blood. Manisha is a nagin. She is venom.

"Against the Darkness" by Kendare Blake

Against the Darkness (Apr. 9, 2024) by Kendare Blake.

<This is the final novel in a trilogy.>

<Alert: Spoilers possible.>

The Darkness is coming. That makes it sound like it’s a sentient, roiling mass of dangerous, dark matter or a foreboding, probably skeletal creature with horns and poisonous claws. Instead, the Darkness consists of rogue Slayers led by Aspen, a pretty Slayer who’s killed other Slayers and trapped more in a hell dimension. Her power of persuasion is so strong that she even has Hailey’s true empathy, as Hailey otherwise plays the role of rogue Slayer/ex-Scooby. Frankie Rosenberg, the world’s first Slayer-witch, is readying to confront the Darkness and bring Buffy and the others back from the alternate dimension amidst her usual demon patrols. Her Watcher, vampire-with-a-soul Spike, and her mom, Willow, care fiercely about bringing Buffy back. Willow’s obsession is such that she is at risk of turning dark again (The Black Grimoire/Book of Wants has got to go, but will it let Willow let it go?). Jake’s having a werewolf identity crisis, made more complicated when it turns out he’s been, um, biting his lacrosse teammates, and Sigmund’s heart is torn between Hailey, the person he loves, and doing what’s expected of his goody-two-shoes self by carrying on a relationship with another Sage demon like himself. The Scoobies are a gang holding on by a thread. Strained relationships and personal issues are piling up. Can Frankie be the Scooby gang leader her friends need her to be to defeat the Darkness once and for all? And what’s going on with the super-hot underwear model (a.k.a. Grimloch, the demon Hunter of Thrace)?

With this YA paranormal novel, the Buffy: The Next Generation series is complete. The darkness that the Darkness is plotting, the possibility of Willow going dark again and the upheaval in the lives of various main and supporting characters is offset by the sarcasm and wit splashed throughout. The contemporary setting with creatures of popular legend and monsters from the original storyline set up a tempting tale for anyone who enjoys adventure, fantasy and the paranormal and isn’t only for readers who are long-standing Buffy fans. This trilogy-ender is a word burrito of flavorful protagonists and antagonists set against a New Sunnydale backdrop and slathered in familiar Buffyverse lore (for those who are well-versed, which I’m admittedly not).

Book One: In Every Generation

               Book Two: One Girl in All the World

"The Missing Sword" by Melissa de la Cruz

Never After: The Missing Sword (Dec. 5, 2023) by Melissa de la Cruz.

<This is the fourth novel in a series.>

<Alert: Spoilers possible.>

Filomena Jefferson-Cho’s mom, Bettina, is mysteriously ill, and it’s evil Olga’s fault. Filomena and the rest of the League of Seven (Jack, Alistair, Gretel, Byron, Beatrice and Rosie) start off to find a very famous sword. It’s in Camelot, of course, but Camelot is also Oz. Or Oz is also Camelot? There’s Arthurian legend and witches that weren’t meant to be wicked but are living up to the rumors Olga started. Avalon exists, just as the Emerald City does. There are Munchkins and evil flying monkeys, a Lady of the Lake and Merlin -- oops, Marlon. Sorry, Marlon! Filomena will be tested through the Brocéliande Forest to test if she deserves to enter Camelot. The group – not usually the full League of Seven – will follow the yellow brick road as they seek Excalibur in ruby red high heels (which are surprisingly comfortable), while carrying Dragon’s Tooth swords and overcoming very large arachnids and Olga’s ogres. Where there are quests within the main quest, tests to survive lest all quests fail, lions, tigers and bears (oh my!) will be the least of the League’s troubles.

            Contemporary life and fairy tales collide in this penultimate tale in The Chronicles of Never After, a middle-grade fantasy adventure. Readers embark on an escapade that’s as fun as their favorite theme park ride with the gritty determination of anyone on a mission to save a loved one. Love is brewing between Filomena and Jack, so that tween romance does feel cringey, and it didn’t lend any value to the story. The author’s stories are made absorbing by her courageous, relatable characters, rapidly-moving plot, great diversity and creative world-building of fictional realms I’d happily visit (sans evil ogres and all unsavory types, be they human or not). This is another de la Cruz middle-grade tale that’s an overall hit.

            Book One: The Thirteenth Fairy

            Book Two: The Stolen Slippers

            Book Three: The Broken Mirror

"Into the Starlight" by Amanda Cabot

Into the Starlight (July 16, 2024) by Amanda Cabot.*

<This is the third novel in a series.>

Returning home to Sweetwater Crossing after more than a year in Europe should bring joy. Instead, Joanna Vaughn Richter’s dreams of becoming a concert pianist have shattered, as battling scarlet fever and subsequent pneumonia have left her lungs unable to withstand the exertion of a hectic concert tour, and she’s mourning the double loss of her husband of one month and her grandmother, whom she was traveling with. The thought of her childhood home sustained her return to Texas, but now that eldest sister, Emily Ferguson, has turned Finley House into a boardinghouse, her home no longer feels like home. Dr. Burke Finley arrives with Aunt Della Samuels the same day that Joanna returns. Burke is the nephew of the late Clive Finley, who built Finley House for Della, his intended. After his partner and his fiancée blame him for a patient’s death, and his former flame falls out of love with him for said partner, Burke is happy to leave the practice he’d started in Samuels, Alabama. He knows he will not return there. A two-week trek to Sweetwater Crossing seems to be turning into an extended (permanent?) stay.

            Della is looking for answers into Clive’s disappearance. She believes he died after contracting dysentery. The Vaughn sisters (two of three who are now married) and their late parents believed that he left for the war without saying goodbye and was killed in battle. Secrets are coming to light and ghosts are coming to call. Burke is drawn to Joanna and not only because her music draws him closer. Joanna is likewise drawn to him, but she wonders if she has room in her heart to love another. Will secrets from the past and Burke’s uncanny resemblance to Clive take the sweet out of Sweetwater Crossing?

            Discovered secrets and a murky history give this Christian, historical fiction romance an intriguing mystery. Cabot treats readers to a smart plot with twists to keep one guessing, world-building to make us feel as though we’re walking the streets of Sweetwater Crossing, taking tea at Porter’s, grabbing food at Ma’s and visiting Della at the town’s small-but-cozy library, and characters to captivate us. She welcomes us back to town for the third Vaughn sister’s story. I’ve been fortunate to enjoy this gracefully well-crafted trilogy in its entirety. For those who enjoy historical page-turners under a Christian umbrella with suspenseful elements, this is for you!

            Book One: After the Shadows

            Book Two: Against the Wind

* Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Revell Books. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions are expressly my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

"ASAP" by Axie Oh

ASAP (Feb. 6, 2024) by Axie Oh.

<This is a sequel novel to XOXO.>

As the daughter of Joah Entertainment’s CEO (her mother) and politician father, Min Sori is no stranger to the spotlight and scandal and the pressure of maintaining a flawless, perfect daughter image. Between her mother’s stringent running of her company and her father’s extramarital affairs, Sori’s years of being a Joah trainee for her mom and her dad’s political ambitions for her, her relationship with her highly-motivated (ruthless), absentee parents is tense at best. Sori’s admitting to herself that her dream isn’t to be a K-pop idol, and her mother, surprisingly, accepts this, and she accepts her mom’s request to help train Woo Hyemi. Hyemi will be debuting with ASAP, Joah’s first female idol group. Sori’s thoughts keep straying to her ex-boyfriend, XOXO’s Nathaniel Lee (Korean name: Lee Jihyuk). Before XOXO became one of the world’s biggest K-pop groups, their whirlwind romance almost caused a scandal. Fortunately, Sori was referred to as an anonymous trainee, and her name was left out of the tabloids. But more and more are noticing their natural chemistry, and she invites Nathaniel to stay with her when he needs refuge from the prying paparazzi outside XOXO’s house. It’s hard for either to deny their feelings. Will Sori pursue a second chance at love? Or will she sacrifice her happiness for Joah Entertainment and her mother?

            “XOXO” was originally meant to be a standalone, but the popularity of that novel prompted this one, and I’m so glad, as a reader, to read Sori’s story, too. Oh’s “ASAP” is a YA contemporary romance that is a literary K-drama with K-pop elements. This dynamic bildungsroman for Sori is a charming, swoony companion to “XOXO.” It’s an approachable novel even for those unfamiliar with K-pop, K-dramas or Korea. The story is richly written and the main characters, wealthy through family money or as earned as an idol, remain surprisingly relatable. They’re characters you’d want to befriend for their goodness and defend from bullies. Should I hope that “ASAP” is popular enough that Oh gives readers another story? Perhaps Oh Sun’s?

            Book One: XOXO

"Some Murders in Berlin" by Karen Robards

Some Murders in Berlin (June 25, 2024) by Karen Robards.

<This is a standalone novel.>

It’s early September 1943, the Nazis have recently gained complete control of Denmark, and Dr. Elin Lund has been summoned from Copenhagen to Berlin, the last place she wants to be, to help investigate “some murders in Berlin.” Elin’s a psychiatrist with additional training in forensics and a particular interest in murder. Also referred to as Professor or the sobriquet Dr. Murder, Elin possesses a “slim, angular beauty that combines sharp cheekbones and a well-defined jawline with ice-blue eyes and honey-blond hair.” In other words, she is Aryan in appearance, but she has a six-year-old son, Niles, to protect (he’s half-Jewish). She can’t refuse to comply, and she wants to quickly solve the murders and return to her son. She last-minute brings a team consisting of Professor Jens Moller, a mathematician from the University of Copenhagen with an injured shoulder. She’s terrified that if his injury is noticed by any of the kriminalpolizei (Kripo for short), he’ll be in grave danger, as will she and Associate Professor Pia Andersen, team photographer who excels as a sketch artist.

            Kriminalinspektor Kurt Schneider, chief of criminal investigation for the Kripo before he was sent to the Eastern Front, is the rigid detective Elin and her team must work alongside. Her first impression is that Kurt’s a gangster, not helped by his grudging welcome, and the doubt in his voice pertaining to her skills. Neither trusts the other, and why would they; it’s a war, after all. Kurt has his own secrets and trauma. The pair are trapped in an uneasy partnership, and both want to find the murderer behind the gruesome deaths of multiple young, Aryan women. Evidence suggests that the killer is law enforcement or military or both, and Elin’s now on his radar. “Say your prayers.”

            Robards’ newest historical thriller has all of the elements to make it a standout: captivating characters, a riveting plot, dramatic pacing, meticulous research, cortisol-inducing danger and finding star-crossed love amidst war. This is only the second novel I’ve read by Robards, but it’s easy to see that she’s a master of storytelling. I’d listen to her TED talk, for sure. The atrocities of the story are back in the 1940s, but, scarily and sadly enough, the story has contemporary relevance. For anyone who gravitates toward historical thrillers, I highly recommend this one. It’s easy to get swept up in this theatre of conflict, such is the magnificence of her writing.

            Also by Karen Robards: The Black Swan of Paris