⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ (4.5 stars) Cash Blackbear never goes looking for trouble, but trouble always finds her. When the Ojibwe college student and farmhand stumbles across a murdered farmer and a frightened young girl in rural Minnesota, she’s pulled into a case as tangled as the furrows she plows. What unfolds is more than a mystery—it’s a stark look at the foster care system, the weight of racism, and what it means to fight for survival when the odds are stacked against you. Marcie R. Rendon’s Broken Fields is one of those mysteries you inhale in a weekend. On the surface, it’s a deliciously complicated whodunit set in 1970s Minnesota farm country. […]
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Secrets, Sisterhood, and Spies on Martha’s Vineyard
Martha Hall Kelley, one of my favorite historical fiction novelists, delivers another captivating tale in The Martha’s Vineyard Beach and Book Club. The title is a bit misleading—it isn’t really about a book club—but what unfolds is far richer and more intriguing. The dual timeline begins in 2016, when Mari Starwood travels from California to Martha’s Vineyard with nothing but a name on a scrap of paper. There she meets Elizabeth Devereaux, a reclusive painter whose family story reshapes Mari’s understanding of her own past. The heart of the novel, though, lies in 1942. Sisters Cadence and Briar Smith struggle to hold their farm together while U.S. troops train on […]
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Books, Blackouts, and a Mother’s Choice
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Madeline Martin’s The Booklover’s Library drops us into Nottingham during WWII, where widow Emma Taylor faces an impossible choice: risk keeping her daughter Olivia in a bombing zone or send her off to live with strangers in the countryside. With little hope and even fewer job options—married and widowed women were barred from most work—Emma persuades Boots’ lending library to hire her. There she finds unlikely friendships, quirky patrons, and a reminder that books can keep people afloat when the world is sinking. What caught me most wasn’t the “library angle” (frankly, I’m getting a little worn out on book-about-books stories), but the history tucked inside. I had never heard of […]
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Unsung Heroines of the Arsenal
⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ Jennifer Chiaverini’s Canary Girls shines a spotlight on a little-known chapter of World War I history—the British “munitionettes” who risked their lives making bombs while their brothers, husbands, and sweethearts fought on the front lines. Through the perspectives of three women from different walks of life—April, a former housemaid; Lucy, the wife of a football star; and Helen, the boss’s socially conscious wife—the novel captures both the camaraderie and the danger of working in the factories. The women’s skin literally turns yellow from handling TNT, earning them the nickname “canary girls,” yet they persist, fueled by patriotism and the fellowship they find on the soccer pitch. Chiaverini blends historical fact with […]
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A Haunting Farewell for Maisie Dobbs
⭐⭐⭐⭐ In The Comfort of Ghosts, Jacqueline Winspear gives Maisie Dobbs one final case—and it’s a poignant one. Set in post-WWII London, the story centers on four adolescent orphans squatting in a crumbling Belgravia mansion. Traumatized, street-smart, and fiercely loyal to one another, the teens are under the watchful eye of a wounded ex-soldier and a troubled nurse. When Maisie is asked to intervene, she uncovers secrets about the house, the young squatters’ pasts, and a wartime murder that still casts a shadow. As always, Maisie brings empathy as much as intellect to the investigation. Alongside her inquiries, she’s grappling with big life decisions—about love, family, and her future. Familiar characters […]
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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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