⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Gabrielle Meyer’s Across the Ages is everything I want in time travel fiction—heart, history, high stakes, and a dash of holy hope. Caroline is a gifted time-crosser living two lives: one as a disguised cabin boy aboard a pirate ship in 1727, the other as a preacher’s daughter caught up in Prohibition-era drama in 1927 St. Paul. The twists are fun, the romance is swoony, and the tension never lets up. As a Minnesota native, I loved the Twin Cities references—every landmark was familiar and warmly nostalgic. Meyer, who once worked for the Minnesota Historical Society, knows her stuff. That comes through loud and clear, especially in the informative author’s note. […]
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Backstage Pass to Heartache and Harmony
⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Griffin Sisters’ Greatest Hits is a nostalgic and emotionally rich novel about fame, fallout, and the ties that fray—but never quite break. In the early 2000s, Zoe and Cassie Grossberg skyrocketed to stardom as the Griffin Sisters: one the spotlight-loving starlet, the other a shy musical genius. Then, just as quickly, they disappeared. Twenty years later, they’re not speaking, and Zoe’s teenage daughter, Cherry, wants to know why. This is a book about what happens when the beat goes on but the harmony breaks down. The sibling dynamic is messy and believable, full of old grudges and buried affection. There’s just enough behind-the-scenes music drama to keep things […]
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More Romance than Rocket Science
⭐⭐⭐-1/2 Taylor Jenkins Reid’s Atmosphere follows Joan Goodwin, a quiet, brilliant physics professor who stuns everyone—including herself—by joining NASA’s Space Shuttle program in 1980. The setup hints at a high-flying, STEM-driven narrative, but the story spends more time grounded in Joan’s personal relationships: her bond with her niece, her complicated family ties, and a romance that becomes central to the plot. Reid’s writing is as strong as ever, and the ensemble cast of fellow trainees is engaging. There are moving moments and thoughtful themes about identity, love, and finding your place in the universe. But I was hoping for a deeper look at what it meant to be one of […]
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Mob Queen Is Fierce, Gritty, and Gloriously Unapologetic
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I absolutely loved Virginia Hill. Fierce, determined, and headstrong, she bursts off the page in Erin Bledsoe’s Mob Queen—a gutsy, gripping dive into the glitzy but treacherous world of 1930s organized crime. From the moment Virginia flees a violent marriage in Georgia and tumbles into Chicago’s mob scene, the stakes are life and death—and she rises to meet them with swagger and smarts. Bledsoe doesn’t sugarcoat the brutality. Mob violence is graphic and unsettling, and Virginia grows increasingly at ease carrying out the family’s dirty work. It’s a humanizing portrait of a woman who finds agency in a world that rarely offers it. Her relationship with Bugsy Siegel is steamy […]
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Run for Your Life: A Debut That’s Brave, Bold, and a Bit Bumpy
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4/5) Eve J. Chung’s Daughters of Shandong is a powerful debut inspired by her grandmother’s real-life escape from Communist China. It follows teenaged Hai, her mother, and sisters after they’re abandoned by Hai’s father during the civil war. The women face violence, hunger, and betrayal on their harrowing journey from Shandong to Taiwan. Chung nails the setting and stakes, giving readers a vivid, emotional ride. Hai is a strong narrator—young, naive, and surprisingly resilient. I had a hard time putting the book down. Chung brings urgency and heart to the page, especially in scenes of political persecution and gender injustice. The themes of survival and sisterhood pack a punch, and the author’s […]
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Sweet Story, Slow Burn: A Seaside Tale That Takes Its Time
⭐⭐⭐ Marty Wingate’s The Orphans of Mersea House is a quiet, character-driven novel set in a post-WWII English boarding house. Olive Kersey, now orphaned and jobless, lands a position as housekeeper at Mersea House, run by her prickly childhood friend Margery. The arrival of young Juniper—spirited, bright, and disabled by polio—adds a welcome jolt of energy to the otherwise uneventful household. The best part of the book is its cozy, coastal setting and its gentle exploration of found family, resilience, and second chances. Olive is likable, and her growing bond with Juniper is touching. The supporting cast includes a few charming oddballs, and Wingate captures small-town postwar life with warmth and […]
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Charming Villain, Frustrating Victims
⭐⭐⭐ Lisa Jewell’s Don’t Let Him In is the literary version of yelling “Girl, no!” at your book every five minutes. Nick Radcliffe is polished, persuasive, and apparently made of Teflon—because every red flag bounces right off him while the women around him melt like butter on a July sidewalk. We’ve got Nina, a grieving widow who lets this charmer right through the front door (and basically into her life without a second thought). Her daughter Ash sniffs trouble and plays Nancy Drew, but even she takes her sweet time. Then there’s Martha, who’s basically living in a “My Husband Has a Secret Life” docuseries. Add in a few more […]
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Fast, Flashy, and Forgettable
⭐⭐⭐ I thought I would love this book. Brad Meltzer knows how to spin a good government thriller, but The Lightning Rod didn’t maintain my interest the way I expected it to. The premise—an ex-military man murdered after dropping off his car—starts strong, but the story quickly gets bogged down in convoluted twists and uneven pacing. Nola Brown, a standout character in the first book, is back, but this time she feels underused. Her sharp edge and emotional complexity take a backseat to a busy plot that never quite finds its rhythm. The short chapters move things along, but I often found myself tuning out. The pacing is fast, with […]
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A Vivid Reimagining of Hester Prynne’s Untold Story
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Laurie Lico Albanese’s Hester reimagines Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic novel, The Scarlet Letter, from the point of view of a woman who might have inspired Hester Prynne. Isobel Gamble is still a teenager when she emigrates from Scotland to Salem, Massachusetts, with her much older husband, Edward. She comes from a long line of women with secret knowledge—including her ancestor, Isobel Gowdie, Queen of Witches—and has learned to hide her synesthesia, a condition that makes her see letters and sounds in color. Albanese describes this brilliantly, weaving it into the story in ways that feel both magical and grounded. Told in a dual narrative between Isobel Gamble and Isobel Gowdie, the novel’s prose is […]
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A Norwegian Twist on WWII Fiction
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Resistance Girl by Mandy Robotham offers a fresh take on WWII fiction by shifting the setting to Nazi-occupied Norway. It was a welcome change to step outside the usual France-or-England narrative and experience the war from a different vantage point. The icy backdrop, secret missions, and quiet acts of defiance give this story a unique atmosphere. The plot centers on a young woman drawn into the resistance after a personal tragedy. She’s not a superhero, but her courage feels real—and that grounded strength gives the book its heartbeat. There’s a romantic subplot that adds warmth, though at times it overshadows the larger wartime stakes. A few secondary characters […]
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