Where We Belong by Savannah Carlisle

 Chloe Beckett has always believed in the magic of community. Raised on Big Dune Island, Chloe found her place in the kitchen of her grandmother’s coastal home, where neighbors became family and stories were passed down over cups of coffee.

Years later, Island Coffee isn’t just a café. It’s the heart of Main Street. Locals gather beneath its string lights, with mismatched china, sharing morning rituals and lifelong memories. After years of living in her famous brother's shadow, Chloe is stepping into the spotlight—competing on a reality TV show for a prize that could expand her café’s legacy to the next town over.

However, the competition is fierce with social media superstars and slick MBAs. Chloe knows exactly who she should ask for help—Michael Russo, a New York real estate investor whose world revolves around profits and projections. Her crush on him has gone unnoticed for years, and this is the perfect excuse to spend more time with him. But it's Chloe who begins to rewrite everything he thought he knew about success.

Will competing for her dreams finally help Chloe transform from the little sister who needed help into the woman who can stand on her own, both in the eyes of her family and Michael?

A story of second chances and beachy charm, Where We Belong is a celebration of community, connection, and the courage it takes to build something that truly matters.

Pick up your copy here...

Amazon.com: Where We Belong: A Warmhearted, Uplifting Romance (Big Dune Island): 9781963483444: Carlisle, Savannah: Books

Savannah Carlisle writes heartwarming romance novels with idyllic beach settings. Her stories transport readers to fun and quirky small towns where friends feel like family. So, if you’re ready for a mental vacation, you’ve come to the right place!⁠

Savannah jokes that she's living her own Hallmark movie because she's a former big city corporate attorney who now lives in the small beach town of Fernandina Beach writing romance novels.

When she isn't busy at her laptop writing her next book, Savannah enjoys putting her feet in the sand with a good book in hand. She lives on Amelia Island in Florida with her husband, German Shepherd, and three cats.

The Amazing Brain Club by Lindsey Viducich

 Is your child a whirlwind of creativity, bursting with ideas and energy? Do they sometimes struggle in a world that doesn't quite understand their unique brilliance or neurodiversity? The Amazing Brain Club is a picture book to help kids with ADHD discover that their "different" brain isn't a problem—it's a God-given gift—and to help those who interact with them understand how all brains are uniquely made.

This heartwarming picture book from author and educator Lindsey Goff Viducich (Love Does for Kids), celebrates the incredible gifts and talents of children with ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder), reminding them that they are intentionally and wonderfully made by God—and that all different kinds of minds belong in the Amazing Brain Club! Inside, you’ll discover:

• Your ADHD Brain Is a Gift: Explore how your child's unique brain wiring and mindset makes them capable of amazing things, from imaginative thinking to creative problem-solving. This book helps them see their differences as strengths.
• God's Perfect Plan for You: Find out how God lovingly created your child exactly as they are, ADHD and all. This book reinforces the message that they are deeply loved and cherished by God.
• How to Navigate the Ups and Downs: Learn practical ways to manage the challenges of ADHD and celebrate the joys, empowering your child to thrive in their daily life.

Perfect for neurodiverse families and classrooms, The Amazing Brain Club isn't just for kids with ADHD—it's for everyone! This book helps neurotypical children understand and appreciate the unique perspectives of their siblings, classmates, and friends, fostering empathy and inclusion. It's a beautiful reminder that we all belong in God's family.

Inside The Amazing Brain Club, your child will discover:

• Engaging illustrations that bring the message to life
• A positive and empowering perspective on ADHD
• Biblical truths about the way all brains are designed and how they perfectly fit into God's family
• Text that speaks to children’s feelings and experiences

Give the gift of self-acceptance and celebrate the amazing brains in your life!

Pick up your copy here...                                                                                                                                The Amazing Brain Club: God’s Special Design for All Brains: Viducich, Lindsey Goff, Wojciechowski, Cyndi: 9780310178750: Amazon.com: Books

No author headshot

Lindsey Goff Viducich loves kids and is a proud member of the Amazing Brain Club. She began her teaching career at a therapeutic childcare center in Seattle and then spent the next decade teaching kindergarten, first, and second grades. She is currently a school administrator and specializes in student support. Lindsey lives in San Diego with her husband, Jon, and their two kids and spends most of her free time creating art and living new stories with her family. 

A Heart on Consignment by Mindy Steele

 Thank You Barbour for my review copy of A Heart on Consignment by Mindy Steele.

Release April 1, 2026

Full of faith, hope, and romance, this series takes you into the Heart of Amish country.
 
Despite knowing her parents are getting desperate for their only child to marry and give them grandchildren, Salina Stoltzfus is weary of seeking the perfect match. Every time she thinks she has found “the one,” he marries another.
 
The best way to forget you are the last woman any man in Havenlee, Indiana, wants to hitch his buggy too is to find something passionate to focus on. When the area is overrun with donations after a tragic storm, Salina suggests opening a consignment shop. The deacon supports the idea and offers his visiting nephew to help set things up.
 
After the embarrassment of having his fiancée call off their wedding, Seth Weaver takes his mother’s advice to leave Kentucky to stay with his uncle for a while. Unfortunately, Seth knows nothing about building furniture in his uncle’s factory, which is the only reason he agrees to help ready the consignment shop next door—not because of the little chatterbox working inside.
 
When Salina’s parents are caught meddling in her love life, she comes up with a crazy idea that might gain her some time and space. Could it be the road to happiness is paved with good intentions and epic fails—until we cross paths when the one made especially for us?

Pick up your copy here...

A Heart on Consignment (The Heart of the Amish): Steele, Mindy: 9798891513136: Amazon.com: Books

Mindy Steele was raised in Kentucky timber country and has been writing since she could hold a crayon against the wall. Steele writes Amish Romance peppered with just the right amount of humor, as well as engaging Suspense, using rural America and the residents as her muse. Steele strives to create realistic characters for her readers and believes in engaging all the senses to make you laugh, cry, hold your breath, and root for the happy ever after ending. A hopeless romantic, with a lyrical pen, Steele wants her readers to find themselves somewhere within her pages. A mother of four and grandmother to a half dozen blessings, Steele enjoys hiking and gardening, coffee indulgences and weekend road trips, and is personally doing all she can to make peanut butter its very own food group.

My Thoughts...

I got lost in this book, it is part of a long series, but it reads as a standalone. The plot and the characters were so fun and the romance was sweet. It was not your average Amish fiction it was really good and unique story line.
Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required, and all views expressed are our own.

Excerpt Reveal Crooked by Vi Keeland

 

EXCERPT REVEAL
Title: Crooked
Authors: Vi Keeland & Penelope Ward
Genre: Standalone Contemporary Romance
Release Date: March 29, 2026

Take a sneak peek at CROOKED.
You know you want to…
 

Copyright © 2025 by Penelope Ward and Vi Keeland
 
“Sorry for making up that story,” he said. “But I didn’t know what else to tell him. Wasn’t like I could admit the real reason I’m here looking out for you.”
I crossed my arms. “Maybe you should’ve, and he could’ve carted you away, so I don’t have to deal with any of this.”
“Now, now. Is that how you talk to your loving boyfriend?” He winked.
“Please don’t repeat that.” Especially in that annoyingly seductive voice.
“Well, you don’t think at some point we’re gonna have to pretend to be something to each other? People are going to wonder who the hell I am. How else are you going to explain me, if I’m not your boyfriend?”
“I’m hoping not to have to explain you at all because I’m counting on this arrangement ending soon.”
“Well, if you’d let me sleep inside like you should’ve, I wouldn’t have attracted the neighbor’s attention.”
“I will admit that making you sleep outside was a mistake, in hindsight.” I rubbed my pounding temples. “Do you want some coffee? I need to get a cup before my head explodes.”
He smiled wide. “I would love some.”
God, those dimples.
Had they been there yesterday?
Of course they had.
Again, I needed coffee.
After I filled two mugs, I handed him one. “As you just saw, my neighbor is very nosy. You need to keep a low profile. That means no hanging around outside my house unless absolutely necessary. She’ll try to talk to you.”
“I’ll be fine if she does. I’m a pretty good liar.”
“How commendable.”
He shrugged. “I don’t make a habit of it. But in this business, you have to be able to stretch the truth with a straight face.”
Putting my coffee down, I crossed my arms. “We have to set some ground rules.”
Wes grinned from behind his mug. “Okay…”
He’d better be taking this seriously. I took another long sip of coffee. “One, you have to sleep on the couch. I only have one bedroom. So…”
“All right. I was expecting that. No big deal. I’ve slept on worse things.”
“Not even gonna ask.” I sighed. “Also, no walking around without your clothes on.”
Wes raised a brow and laughed. “Why would I do that?”
“I don’t know. You seem like the type who might be comfortable enough in your skin to want to flaunt it or something. Just letting you know I won’t appreciate that.”
“No naked ass. Got it.” He nodded. “What else?”
“No eating anything in my refrigerator that belongs to me. I just went to Erewhon to stock up. Practically spent a week’s salary.” I opened the fridge and began moving my items to the right, leaving spots on the left of the top two shelves empty. “You can keep your stuff on this side.”
“How generous of you…” He grinned.
I tilted my head. “Are you mocking me?”
“No.” He pursed his lips, probably to keep from laughing.
I sighed. Maybe I did need to calm down. This situation was making me more high-strung than usual.
After a moment, he asked, “Are you done?”
“I’ll let you know if I think of anything else.”
“Look…” he said. “I don’t wanna be here any more than you want me here. So let’s just try to make the best of it.”
“We don’t need to make the best of it. We need to stay out of each other’s way and not make each other insane.” I downed the last of my cup of joe.
Wes’s expression dampened. Had I hurt his feelings? This situation stressed me out and made me less than pleasant. My father’s antics brought out the worst in me. I felt like I needed a time out.
On that note, I took my own advice and ventured back to my room to have my second cup of coffee in peace.
When I walked back out into the living room about fifteen minutes later, my jaw dropped. It was like I’d walked onto the set of Love Island. Wes was sitting on the couch with his feet up on the ottoman—shirtless, with every beautiful contour of his bronzed chest on full display.
What. The. Heck. I gulped. “What are you doing?”
He stood, looking confused. “What do you mean? I’m just sitting here.”
“You’ve only been here a matter of minutes, and you’ve already broken a rule.” I scoffed. “The most important one, I might add.”
He drew in his brows. “What rule?”
I glared. “Naked?”
He looked down at his chest. “I’m not naked.”
“You took your shirt off.”
“That’s shirtless. Not naked. You say naked, and I think…junk hanging out. This is not naked.”
I shook my head. “You need to wear a shirt in this house.”
He stalked toward me. “It’s hot as Hades in here. Does your air conditioner even work?”
“I don’t like it too cold. I freeze easily.”
“I guess that’s what happens to people who are already cold enough.”
As he stood there with his hands on his hips, I did feel oddly warm, actually. And it had nothing to do with the air-conditioner setting.
He smirked. A chill ran down my spine.
F*ck. Those dimples.
I’m going to kill my father for hiring this guy.

Pick up your copy here...

Crooked: Special Edition: Keeland, Vi, Ward, Penelope: 9781966867968: Amazon.com: Books

Vi Keeland is a #1 New York Times, #1 Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling author. With millions of books sold, her titles are currently translated in twenty-seven languages and have appeared on bestseller lists in the US, Germany, Brazil, Bulgaria, Israel and Hungary. Three of her short stories have been turned into films, and two of her books have been optioned for movies. She resides in New York with her husband and their three children where she is living out her own happily ever after with the boy she met at age six.

Moments of Joy by Camille Joy

 Raising a child with special needs is a journey filled with unique challenges and joys that not everyone understands. In this comforting devotional, Camille Joy draws from her experiences of raising a son with autism, IDD, and complex medical issues to help you recognize God's presence and plan for you and your child.

Whether you're facing overwhelming obstacles or celebrating small victories, these pages offer a safe place to acknowledge the tough moments and a restful oasis for your weary heart. Combining tangible hope, reassuring truths, and practical encouragement, each devotion features

• inspiring Scripture to anchor your heart in God’s promises
• thoughtful reflections to bring hope to your soul in just minutes
• a bold affirmation to take with you into your day

Embrace the joy that sustains and discover the peace in knowing you are never alone.

Pick up your copy here...

Moments of Joy: 90 Days of Encouragement for Parents of Children with Special Needs: Joy, Camille: 9780593603086: Amazon.com: Books

CAMILLE JOY is a passionate advocate, storyteller, and beacon of hope for families raising children with special needs. She is the founder of the Ausomely Different Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting families of children with autism and intellectuall disabilities through life-saving resources, advocacy, and inclusive community events. Camille is also the host of the globally recognized Moments of Joy podcast and the creator of Moments of Joy Fest, an annual celebration that brings together families from around the world.

As a devoted wife and mother of five, including a son with autism and congenital heart disease, Camille draws from her own journey to empower and uplift other parents. Her work has been featured on major platforms like ABC News, where she was highlighted for championing sensory-friendly movie screenings. She also serves as co-director of the documentary Parents of the Spectrum, a powerful film that amplifies the voices of families raising children with autism. Through her storytelling, public speaking, and media platforms, Camille creates space for honest conversations, healing, and joy, offering encouragement, education, and the message that families are never alone.

Don't Look In the Frezzer by patti Eddington

Thank you She Writes Press for my review copy of  Don't Look In the Freezer by Patti Eddington.

Release April 28, 2026

Patti Eddington should have known when she married her veterinary student boyfriend that she would spend anniversary and birthday dinners not sitting at tables at fancy restaurants but kneeling under a surgery table in a cocktail dress, desperately trying to mop up a steady stream of blood and urine with cheap paper towels. She should have guessed that every knock at the door or ring of the phone would mean her husband would be torn away from the family for hours—sometimes returning deflated, sometimes smiling. But she could never have dreamed that her beautiful, curly-haired young daughter would one day bathe and sleep with an inflatable tick (until the day it was mysteriously punctured by a salad fork) or that she would go through her marriage of forty-five years opening every freezer door with caution.

Don’t Look in the Freezer is a humorous, poignant, loving look into the sometimes strange, mostly unglamorous, life of a veterinarian’s wife. Patti’s little family is not at all like that of famous veterinarian James Herriot’s—but is still absolutely filled with compassion and love for animals and the people who adore them.

Pick up your copy here...

Don't Look in the Freezer: The Very Strange Life of a Veterinarian's Wife: Eddington, Patti: 9798896361305: Amazon.com: Books

Patti Eddington is a newspaper and magazine journalist whose favorite job ever was interviewing the famous authors who came through town on book tours. She never dreamed of writing about her life because she was too busy helping build her husband’s veterinary practice, caring for her animal obsessed daughter—whose favorite childhood toy was an inflatable tick—and learning to tap dance. Then fate, and a DNA test, led her to a story she felt compelled to tell. Today, the mid-century modern design enthusiast and Jazzercise instructor enjoys being dragged on walks by her ridiculous three-legged dog, David, and watching the egrets and bald eagles from her deck on a beautiful bayou in Spring Lake, Michigan.

Society Women by Adriane Leigh

 Some invitations are meant to be declined. . . .

Ellie works as an accountant at her father’s successful investment company in New York City. She enjoys all the comforts her privileged lifestyle affords—a two-bedroom apartment overlooking Central Park, a generous trust fund, and a devastatingly attractive if often absent husband who works long hours for her father as well. Yet the introverted young woman who wants for nothing feels aimless and untethered. Ellie lost her mother at a young age and still has nightmares about her death. She sometimes sleepwalks at night and finds herself stumbling through the days.

But Ellie’s life takes a turn when she receives an anonymous invitation in the mail, asking her to join an elite women’s club known only as “The Society.” Intrigued, she begins to attend their lavish gatherings where she meets her new close companion, Aubrey, and enjoys the benefits of belonging to the group—friendship, sisterhood, and support from other successful and glamorous women. Then Ellie makes a horrifying discovery about the society and its “philanthropic work.” The women of The Society harbor dark, dangerous secrets—secrets that may implicate Ellie’s own family.

Wickedly twisty, Society Women is a gripping story of prestige, power, and dirty secrets that will hook you with every surprising turn and leave you questioning every truth until the final, shocking end.

Pick up your copy here..

Society Women: A Gripping Psychological Suspense Novel - Kindle edition by Leigh, Adriane. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

Adriane Leigh is a USA Today bestselling author of multiple novels and novellas, including the psychological thriller series The Influencer, which is currently in development for television.

With appearances in publications such as Vogue Magazine and The Montreal Gazette, the award-winning author, in addition to writing, founded RARE: Romance Author & Reader Events, a community of internationally-renowned book conventions that draw thousands of readers and #1 bestselling authors to events around the world each year. 

She hosts a podcast, The Rebel Artist, and her books are translated into French, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese.

She lives on Lake Michigan with her family.

Hart's Landing by Melanie Harlow

 

Four friends made a promise to live one night like it was their last.
That night changed everything.

Ten years ago, Mila Ferguson left behind a devastating fire, a stolen kiss, and a shattered circle of friends in her hometown of Hart’s Landing. But when a crisis brings her back, Mila just wants to get in and get out, unscathed by her mother’s constant criticism and unseen by her former crush, Everett McKean.

Only...Everett is everywhere. The town’s attractive, beloved mayor has resisted settling down, but he’s never stopped wondering about Mila. Having her back in Hart’s Landing is the second chance he didn’t know he was waiting for―and he’s not about to waste it.

As Mila slowly opens her heart to Everett and begins to rebuild her fractured friendships, she wonders if coming home was exactly what she needed. But old wounds threaten to open again when questions emerge about what really happened the night Mila left. Who’s really responsible for the fire that destroyed the bakery? And will knowing the truth free Mila from the past, or ignite a blaze that burns down the future she’s trying to build?

People say you can never truly come home again, but sometimes coming home isn’t about where you’ve been. It’s about who you’re brave enough to become.

Pre-order your copy here...

Amazon.com: Hart's Landing: 9781682816660: Harlow, Melanie: Books

USA Today and #1 Amazon bestselling author Melanie Harlow writes sweet, sexy, feel-good romance. She likes her martinis dry, her heels high, and her history with the naughty bits left in. If she's not writing or reading, she's probably at Orangetheory or watching Schitt's Creek again. She lifts her glass to readers from her home near Detroit, MI, where she lives with her husband, two daughters, and pet rabbit.

She is represented by Rebecca Friedman of Friedman Literary.

Keep up with all things Harlow here ➜ http://www.melanieharlow.com/subscribe/

And here ➜ https://www.facebook.com/groups/351191341756563/ 

My Thoughts...

I'm so sad this book ended, I fell in love with Everett is the most caring, forgiving book boyfriend ever. He is so swoon worthy and he has set the standards really high for my next husband. This was the best romance/ mystery I have read in a while.
I highly recommend this romance!
Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required, and all views expressed are our own.

The Roommate Rule by Georgia Stone

 Dylan is the kind of person who is always fifteen minutes early and never leaves things to chance--so she can’t believe she’s about to spend six weeks on a last-minute trip to Wales that she didn’t plan, living in a cabin with a man she’s only met once.

Max always goes with the flow, and after his plus-one drops out of his all-expenses-paid travel influencer trip, he’s happy for his sister’s friend to take the spot. After all, from what he remembers of their brief meeting a year ago, Dylan is the kind of woman he’d be more than happy to spend some alone time with.

Not that anything is going to happen between them, because Dylan knows getting involved with this reckless, irrepressible flirt is the last thing she needs. So she makes a house rule: they are roommates only, and under no circumstances can anything . . . untoward . . . happen between them.

But as the days go by, Max starts to realize how much he enjoys chipping away at the walls Dylan hides herself behind, while Dylan begins to admit to herself that there may be more to Max than she first assumed. And before she knows it, she finds herself wondering if their “roommate rule” might be one rule she actually wants to break…

Pick up your copy here...

The Roommate Rule: A Novel: Stone, Georgia: 9780063434844: Amazon.com: Books

Georgia Stone is a London-based author of contemporary romance. She writes love stories that she hopes make people laugh out loud and clutch at their hearts in equal measure.

After dabbling in fan fiction as a teen growing up in rural Switzerland, she didn't write her own stories for years, until one fateful day, she had the idea that sparked her debut novel. She fell back in love with writing and now very much appreciates that being a fiction author is essentially just a socially acceptable way of having imaginary friends.

When she's not reading or writing, you can usually find her trying out DIY projects in her ridiculously colourful flat, spending far too much time feeding The Algorithm, or acting unhinged at gigs with her friends.

You can also find her at @georgiastonewrites on Instagram and TikTok.

My thoughts...

My second book by Stone and I was not disappointed. Max, yes please, I love how he tore Dylans walls down little by little. This book was everything and more. I am so happy I was included in the ARC run of this book. I highly recommend this one. Run don't walk and order your copy!

Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required, and all views expressed are our own.

The Best Little Motel in Texas by Lyla Lane

 After a childhood spent combing the dive bars of Sarsaparilla Falls to collect her fun-loving momma, Cordelia West now enjoys a simple, respectable life in Dallas. Then one phone call from the hometown she’s spent years trying to forget throws it into chaos.

Cordelia's great-aunt Penelope has passed away, naming Cordelia the sole heir to the Chickadee Motel. She has no memory of a great-aunt and no interest in hospitality, but the will stipulates that the motel can’t be sold until its residents leave or pass away – so she reluctantly heads back down to Sarsaparilla Falls to figure out who's living in the Chickadee, and how to get them out.

But upon her arrival, Cordelia discovers the Chickadee isn’t a motel—it’s a brothel, housing three women in their sixties known as the Chicks. For decades, Daisy, Arline, and Belinda Sue have entertained the men of Sarsaparilla Falls (with their wives’ blessings)—including the upright Pastor Reed-Smythe, who thunders against the town’s favorite sins when he’s not indulging. Cordelia doesn’t want to be a hotel manager or a madam, but she can’t just sell the only home the Chicks have known—especially not after the pastor is found poisoned in Daisy’s bed.

With the Chicks—and the town—on the verge of a breakdown, Cordelia steps up to mop up the mess. For a small town, there are plenty of suspects: could it be the obsessed nurse with access to arsenic? Developers eager to gobble up the land? The righteously angry town librarian? Things are heating up in Sarsaparilla Falls, and with the Pastor’s obnoxiously attractive son Archer—Cordelia’s childhood nemesis—investigating the Chicks and getting close, straightlaced Cordelia may just have to get a little dirty to make a killer come clean.

Pick up your copy here...                                                                                                                                  The Best Little Motel in Texas: A Novel: Lane, Lyla: 9780063469327: Amazon.com: Books

No Author headshot

Lyla Lane is a pen name for Sonia Hartl, author of the romcoms Rent to Be and Heartbreak for Hire, which has been optioned for television, as well as the YA novels Not Your #Lovestory, Have a Little Faith in Me, and The Lost Girls, also optioned for television. She lives in Grand Rapids with her husband and two daughters.

Faking Cinderella by Pippa Grant An Heiress In Disguise Rom Com

 A grumpy former bodyguard, an heiress in disguise, and an accidental roommate situation...

If I'd known a tall, broad mountain of a man would crash the one-bedroom cabin I'm borrowing, I might have handled things differently.

I still would've lied to him. He doesn't need to know all of my reasons for wanting to meet my surprise triplet half brothers while undercover as a housekeeper.

But if I'd known I was going to have a surprise roommate, I wouldn't have rigged a homemade security system in the cabin that left him...erm... Let's just call it easy to spot in a crowd.

And he wouldn't have tried to blackmail me when he figured out my real identity.

And I wouldn't have been so attracted to his audacity that I started looking deeper at the wounded man beneath the gruff exterior.

And then we wouldn't be here, with him making me scream his name for all of the good reasons every night.

But I can't keep faking Cinderella forever, and when it's time for me to come clean, he'll have to choose-loyalty to my half brothers or belief in me and the noble reason for the long game I've been playing.

Faking Cinderella is a swoony romcom featuring a mountain of a man with an even bigger wounded heart and an heiress determined to right a wrong. This opposites attract, secret identity romance stands alone and comes with a sweetly satisfying happily ever after. 

Pick up your copy here...

Faking Cinderella: An Heiress in Disguise Romcom (Small Town Sisterhood): Grant, Pippa: 9781955930567: Amazon.com: Books

Pippa Grant wanted to write books, so she did.

Before she became a USA Today and #1 Amazon bestselling romantic comedy author, she was a young military spouse who got into writing as self-therapy. That happened around the time she discovered reading romance novels, and the two eventually merged into a career. Today, she has more than 30 knee-slapping Pippa Grant titles and nine published under the name Jamie Farrell.

When she’s not writing romantic comedies, she’s fumbling through being a mom, wife, and mountain woman, and sometimes tries to find hobbies. Her crowning achievement? Having impeccable timing for telling stories that will make people snort beverages out of their noses. Consider yourself warned.

My Thoughts...                                                                                                  I have read all the books in the Small-Town Sisterhood series. But this one was the one that I felt the most feels. It was so much fun, and the banter was the best. I loved that some of past characters made appearances in this book. Grant has really out done herself with this series. Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required, and all views expressed are our own. 

Shooting Star Above by Patricia Leavy

 Tess Lee is a world-famous novelist. Her inspirational books explore people’s innermost struggles and the human need to believe that there is light at the end of the tunnel—but despite her extraordinary success, she’s been unable to find personal happiness. Jack Miller is a federal agent working in counterterrorism. After spending decades immersed in a violent world, a residue remains. He’s dedicated everything to his job, leaving nothing for himself.

The night Tess and Jack meet, their connection is palpable. She examines the scars on his body and says, “I’ve never seen anyone whose outsides match my insides.” The two embark on an epic love story, but old traumas soon rise to the surface as Jack struggles with the death of a loved one and Tess is forced to confront her childhood abuse. Can unconditional love help heal their invisible wounds? Together, will they be able to move from darkness to light?

Pick up your copy here...

Amazon.com: Shooting Stars Above: A Celestial Bodies Romance (The Celestial Bodies Romances) eBook : Leavy, Patricia: Kindle Store

Patricia Leavy, PhD is a novelist, sociologist, and arts advocate (formerly Associate Professor of Sociology, Founding Director of Gender Studies and Chairperson of Sociology & Criminology at Stonehill College). She is widely considered the world's most visible proponent of arts-based research, which merges the arts and sciences. Patricia has published over 50 books, nonfiction and fiction, and her work has been translated into numerous languages. She has received over 100 book awards. She has also received career awards from the New England Sociological Association, the American Creativity Association, the American Educational Research Association, the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, and the National Art Education Association. In 2016 Mogul, a global women’s empowerment network, named her an “Influencer.” In 2018, she was honored by the National Women’s Hall of Fame and the State University of New York at New Paltz established the “Patricia Leavy Award for Art and Social Justice.” In 2024 the London Arts-Based Research Centre established "The Patricia Leavy Award for Arts-Based Research." In recent years, her passion has turned to penning romance novels. For more information, please visit her website.

The Book of Judges by Gary Fields

 For fans of Dan Brown, a debut contemporary thriller about a young lawyer thrust into a deadly search for an ancient secret—one that has the power to steer the course of destiny.

A beloved judge is murdered. His virus-infected laptop holds an ancient secret. Young lawyer Joshua Sutton, together with doctoral candidate Samantha Bollinger and tech wizard Mark Roth, are thrust into a deadly three-day quest for answers—a quest that leads them across millennia.

As Mark extracts clues from the computer, Josh and Sammi are chased around Florida by the hulking murderer and others who desperately want the laptop.

Josh and Sammi realize they’ve both been haunted by dreams about historical judges. In Mongol-ruled China, Imperial Rome, Byzantium, post-Renaissance Venice, Henry VIII’s England, and Charlemagne’s Frankish kingdom, judges heroically seek justice in life-and-death cases that come to define human rights. As they do, they are exposed to a startling secret.

Josh, Sammi, and Mark end up in a pulse-pounding race to New York City to stop the murder of another judge, one who could potentially save humanity.

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The Book of Judges: A Novel (The Words Series): Fields, Gary: 9781684633487: Amazon.com: Books

Gary Fields earned his law degree from the University of Miami and his degree in mathematics/computer science from SUNY Albany. He has designed computer systems for Fortune 500 companies and built a law practice specializing in community associations. He’s written hundreds of songs, performed professionally as a solo acoustic artist, been a leader in civic activism in his community, and coached youth sports for 18 years. The Book of Judges is Gary’s first novel. He is currently working on a sequel. Gary and his wife, Debbie, now live in the Los Angeles area, close to the rest of their family