⭐⭐⭐☆☆ I’ve always appreciated Marie Benedict’s mission to spotlight the untold stories of women throughout history. Some of her books are hits, others are misses—Agent 355 lands somewhere in the middle. It’s a quick novella that I whipped through in no time, but it left me feeling unsatisfied. The premise is compelling: a mysterious female spy working within the Culper Ring during the American Revolution. There are moments of intrigue, particularly in the espionage scenes and political maneuverings, but they’re buried under repetitive inner monologues and uneven pacing. Readers hoping for a vivid, pulse-pounding spy thriller may find this more subdued and speculative than satisfying. The story feels underdeveloped, and the […]
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Twists, Truths, and Tupelo Grove: Where Secrets Lie is a Must-Read Mystery
If you’re looking for your next binge-worthy suspense read, put Where Secrets Lie by Colleen Coble and Rick Acker at the top of your list. I just finished it—five stars, no hesitation. I couldn’t put it down. The story follows Savannah Webster, a professor at Tupelo Grove University who’s trying to move forward after a painful divorce. But when her ex-husband Hez shows signs of slipping back into trouble, and a dangerous smuggling ring threatens the university her family founded, she finds herself caught in a high-stakes tangle of secrets, lies, and buried history. What really stood out to me? The intricacies of the plot. Coble and Acker clearly did their research—this […]
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The Rebel Romanov Tells a Tragic Tale—But Reads Like a Textbook
⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3 stars) When I first picked up The Rebel Romanov: Julie of Saxe-Coburg, the Empress Russia Never Had, I assumed it was a historical novel. A few pages in, my eyes started to glaze over—and that’s when I realized it was actually a biography. Still, I was curious about Julie’s life, so I pressed on. Helen Rappaport, known for her royal deep dives, tells the little-known story of Princess Julie, aunt of Queen Victoria and one-time bride-to-be of Grand Duke Constantine. Handpicked by Catherine the Great, Julie entered a dangerous court full of rivalries, gossip, and a husband who alternated between cruel and charming. Her courage to walk away from […]
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A Stirring Tribute to Librarians Who Fought with Books
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4 stars) Janet Skeslien Charles truly levels up with Miss Morgan’s Book Brigade, a novel that surpasses her debut The Paris Library in both heart and storytelling power. Inspired by the real Jessie Carson—an American librarian who helped restore wartime France through the written word—this book highlights a forgotten chapter of literary history. Charles’s fictionalized Jessie is brave, grieving, and driven. Her journey through WWI-ravaged towns, delivering books to soldiers and rebuilding libraries, is both emotionally resonant and vividly detailed. The novel explores how stories create connection, community, and healing—especially when everything else has been shattered. The dual timeline follows a modern-day librarian, Wendy Peterson, in 1987 New York, who stumbles across […]
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Too Cold, Too Cruel: Why This Hunger Games Prequel Isn’t for Teens
Review (⭐️⭐️ 2 stars): The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes attempts to deepen the lore of Panem by diving into the early life of Coriolanus Snow, but instead of delivering a gripping origin story, it offers a slow, unsettling narrative that’s both emotionally hollow and shockingly inappropriate for the YA shelf. The pacing is glacial for the first half, bogged down in bureaucratic politics and Snow’s narcissistic inner monologue. The violence, while expected in this world, is crueler and more disturbing than ever—without the moral clarity that grounded the original trilogy. There’s a particularly toxic romance that feels forced and predatory, and the ending offers little resolution, just a bleak […]
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Pippa Latour’s Astonishing WWII Memoir
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½ rounded up to 5 What a story! I’ve read my share of WWII spy novels—some gripping, some not—but The Last Secret Agent is something else entirely. It’s not a novel. It’s the real-life account of Pippa Latour, the last surviving British female spy from Churchill’s Special Operations Executive, finally telling her story after decades of silence. Pippa parachuted into Nazi-occupied France at 23, posed as a teenage soap seller, and risked her life to send 135 coded messages to London. No gadgets. No backup. Just grit, silk hair ribbons, and nerves of steel. She worked alone, passed through Gestapo checkpoints, and survived—one of the few who did. What makes […]
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Smart and Sassy: A Book Club Worth Joining
This one reminded me so much of Lorna Landvik’s Angry Wives Eating Bon Bons—strong women, suburban setting, and a whole lot of heart. Set in early 1960s Virginia, The Book Club for Troublesome Women follows four women who start reading The Feminine Mystique and suddenly start seeing their own lives in a new light. From tea and cake to personal revolutions—it escalates quickly. The real beauty of this novel is in the friendships. Margaret, Bitsy, Charlotte, and Viv are flawed, funny, brave, and loyal. Their bond feels authentic, and their individual arcs show how liberating (and scary) it can be to start dreaming again after years of playing it safe. […]
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The Lost Book of Eleanor Dare Review
⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3 stars) This novel had so much going for it—a dual timeline, a real historical figure, and a mystery rooted in the fate of the Lost Colony of Roanoke. I went in eager to learn more about Eleanor Dare, a woman I find absolutely fascinating. And while the premise had great potential, the execution didn’t quite live up to it. The story follows Alice, a war widow, and her daughter, Penn, as they return to their family’s ancestral home in the 1940s. There, they begin to uncover secrets tied to their lineage and the legacy of Eleanor Dare. The emotional threads—grief, identity, forgiveness, and healing—are the strongest parts of […]
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Aching, Thrilling, Unforgettable — Broken Country Is a Masterpiece of Love and Loss
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5 glowing stars!) If you’ve been waiting for a book that grabs your heart, twists it around, and leaves you breathless in the best possible way—Broken Country is it. This novel has everything I love: an aching love story, rich emotional layers, and the kind of tension that keeps you turning pages way past bedtime. Clare Leslie Hall’s American debut is set in the wilds of the English countryside and tells the story of Beth, a woman torn between the life she chose and the love she never forgot. The narrative shifts between past and present, slowly revealing the legacy of first love—and the secrets it left behind. And […]
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A Literary Home Run—Heartfelt, Hopeful, and Unforgettable
When Crickets Cry is a beautifully written, meaningful story that lingers long after the last page. Charles Martin brings together Reese, a man running from a painful past, and Annie, a brave little girl with a lemonade stand and a failing heart. What unfolds is a tender, heartwrenching story of grief, grace, and the redemptive power of love. This book just kept getting better as I read. The spiritual themes are subtle but deeply moving—never heavy-handed, just gently stitched into the characters’ lives. It’s Christian fiction at its best: full of heart and truth, yet accessible to a wide audience. Yes, there’s an overload of medical content—it sometimes feels like Martin […]
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