⭐⭐⭐⭐½ (4.5 stars) Antihero was my first introduction to Gregg Hurwitz’s Orphan X series, and boy, have I been missing out! A friend recommended it, so I jumped at the chance to snag a complimentary copy from NetGalley. I’m glad I took his advice! Evan Smoak is a former government assassin who now uses his considerable talents to help people in desperate situations. His latest mission involves a young woman who has been kidnapped and assaulted. Evan is determined to bring her attackers to justice, but she has one condition: No killing. Easier said than done for a man who has spent much of his life eliminating bad guys! Hurwitz […]
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A Lovely Reminder to Savor the Ordinary: A Review of Life: A Love Story
⭐⭐⭐⭐ I’ll admit, I expected Life: A Love Story to send my sappy meter straight into the red. Happily, it didn’t. This was warm, thoughtful, and heartfelt without laying the sentiment on with a trowel. At 92, Florence “Flo” Greene knows her time is short, so she begins writing to Ruthie, the young woman who grew up next door and became like a daughter to her. Through those letters, Flo looks back on her marriage, friendships, mistakes, joys, and a few truths she kept tucked away for years. At the same time, she is still meddling—in the best possible way—in the lives of the people around her. This is very […]
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Brilliant Women, Clever Lies, and a Surprisingly Slow Read: A Review of Propaganda Girls
⭐⭐⭐½ Women doing daring, mostly unrecognized work during WWII? That is usually my reading catnip, and Propaganda Girlsshould have been an easy win. Lisa Rogak introduces Betty MacDonald, Zuzka Lauwers, Jane Smith-Hutton, and Marlene Dietrich—who used forged orders, phony newspapers, radio broadcasts, songs, and carefully planted rumors to rattle Axis soldiers. Some of their schemes were wonderfully audacious. A fake “League of Lonely War Women” suggested German women were keeping soldiers back home company, while bogus Japanese military instructions encouraged troops to surrender rather than fight to the death. Marlene Dietrich even used broadcasts and her famous voice to slip messages to German listeners. Honestly, how did I not fly […]
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A Chilling Journey Through the Darkest Corners of Paris: A Review of Skylark
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Skylark by Paula McLain is an atmospheric, deeply researched novel that brings the darker side of historical Paris vividly to life. I found it highly educational, especially the sections involving the Salpêtrière asylum and the cruel treatment of the thousands of women confined there. Equally fascinating were the Paris catacombs, where human remains were interred after the city’s above-ground cemeteries grew too full of bodies. The images of the bones of more than six million people, carefully arranged beneath the crowded streets of Paris, are absolutely chilling. The novel follows two parallel stories. In 1664, Alouette Voland, the daughter of a master dyer at the Gobelin Tapestry Works, is […]
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A Literary Treasure Hunt: A Review of The Lost Story of Even Fuentes
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Chanel Cleeton swings big with The Lost Story of Eva Fuentes, and for the most part, it works. This globe-trotting novel moves from Havana to London, Edinburgh, Boston, and Key West, weaving together three timelines and three women connected by a single, dangerous book. It’s an ambitious, intriguing premise—and one I enjoyed far more than Next Year in Havana. The strongest thread, for me, was Pilar’s story in 1960s Cuba. Her quiet courage as a librarian risking everything to protect forbidden books adds real emotional weight. Margo’s present-day hunt for the last surviving copy brings a sense of urgency—especially after an early murder raises the stakes—but the suspense never fully delivers […]
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Timeless Truths That Still Pack a Punch
⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Essential Sermons of Billy Graham, Volume One offers a front-row seat to speeches by one of the most influential voices of the twentieth century—and let me tell you, the man didn’t mince words. These sermons, drawn from the 1950s and 1960s, feel both rooted in their time and oddly relevant today. Graham’s style is direct, urgent, and grounded in Scripture. He had a gift for cutting through the noise and getting straight to the heart of things—sin, salvation, grace, and the need for a personal relationship with Christ. No fluff, no overcomplication. Just clear, conviction-driven preaching that’s hard to ignore. That said, this is very much a product of […]
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The Gourmet Bookworm’s 5-Star Reads of 2025
I read a record-breaking 206 books in 2025. Two hundred and six. Even I had to sit down when I counted them up. Relatively few books earn top marks from me. I’m selective; in fact, my average rating is 3.77. If a book made this list, it did more than entertain—it lingered, stirred something, or flat-out impressed me. This year delivered—historical fiction, thrillers, literary standouts, faith-centered reads, and stories that stayed with me. I even ventured into a couple of memoirs, which isn’t typical for me. Growth! Below are my five-star reads of 2025, listed alphabetically. Across the Ages — Gabrielle Meyer Genre: Historical Fiction | Time-Slip | Christian Romance […]
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An Interesting Premise Buried Under Heavy-Handed Storytelling
⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Wind Knows My Name by Isabel Allende sets out to tell a sweeping, emotional story about displaced children across generations—but for me, it never quite found its footing. The novel moves between 1938 Vienna and modern-day America, following Samuel Adler, a young Jewish boy escaping the Nazis via the Kindertransport, and Anita Díaz, a child separated from her mother at the U.S. border. On paper, it’s a powerful parallel. In execution, it feels overworked. There are simply too many storylines competing for attention, and it’s no surprise when they eventually converge in a way that feels more predictable than profound. Allende leans heavily into her trademark mysticism, but […]
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Scandal, Satin, and a Side of Suspense
⭐⭐⭐⭐ I’ll be honest—His Delightful Lady Delia (American Royalty #3) by Grace Hitchcock isn’t typically the kind of book I grab off the stack. Gilded Age romance with plenty of emotion? Not my usual lane. And yet… I ended up enjoying it more than I expected. After years as her temperamental mother’s understudy, Delia Vittoria finally steps into the spotlight when her diva mother loses her voice for good. Delia now stands center stage at the Academy of Music, which is locked in a fierce opera war with the flashy new Metropolitan Opera House. To save the Academy—and prove herself—she agrees to a risky scheme. Enter Kit Quincy, who is trying […]
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Seven Days to Live. One Killer to Catch. Holly Jackson Nails Her Adult Debut.
⭐⭐⭐⭐✨ (4½ stars) Goodreads Choice Award Winner for Readers’ Favorite Mystery & Thriller (2025) Holly Jackson makes a seamless leap from YA powerhouse to adult thriller with Not Quite Dead Yet, and wow — what a hook. Thirty-six hours after a brutal Halloween attack, Jet Mason wakes in a Vermont hospital to devastating news: a bone fragment is pressing against a vital artery, and within a week she’ll suffer a fatal hemorrhage. Surgery offers only a slim chance. So Jet makes a choice that sets this story on fire — she’ll spend her last seven days finding her killer. Jet, the sharp-tongued, restless daughter of one of Woodstock’s wealthiest families, has […]
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