"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