B Reviews / Book ReviewsA Sparks & Bainbridge Mystery / Agent/Spies/Undercover / amateur sleuths / class differences / colonialism / dysfunctional family / female friendship / London / matchmakers / mystery / POC / Post WWII5 Comments
In Allison Monclair’s A Rogue’s Company, business becomes personal for the Right Sort Marriage Bureau when a new client, a brutal murder, two kidnappings, and the recently returned from Africa Lord Bainbridge threatens everything that one of the principals holds dear. In London, 1946, the Right Sort Marriage Bureau is ... more >
A Reviews / Book Reviews / Recommended ReadsAustralia / Contemporary / dysfunctional family / family relationships / Fiction / omniscient voice / present tense / prison / prisoners / self discovery / sewing13 Comments
Can a wedding dress save a bunch of hardened crims? The Full Monty meets Orange is the New Black in a poignantly comic story about a men’s prison sewing circle. Derek’s daughter Debbie is getting married. He’s desperate to be there, but he’s banged up in Yarrandarrah Correctional Centre for ... more >
B Reviews / Book ReviewsAsian characters / diversity / dysfunctional family / family relationships / gender-based violence / Ghost / god / homophobia / immigrant / lesbian / LGBTQIA / Malaysia / Paranormal / POC / POC author / prejudice / revenge / ViolenceNo Comments
A reluctant medium discovers the ties that bind can unleash a dangerous power in this compelling Malaysian-set contemporary fantasy. When Jessamyn Teoh starts hearing a voice in her head, she chalks it up to stress. Closeted, broke and jobless, she’s moving back to Malaysia with her parents – a country ... more >
Book Reviews / C+ Reviewsaddiction / California / Cancer / coming-of-age / Contemporary / depression / dysfunctional family / family relationships / road trip / self discovery / young adult fiction / Young-AdultNo Comments
Sometimes the best path is the unexpected one. Jack is on the verge for leaving for college, but before he does, he wants to track down his estranged brother, Alex and find some closure in the wake of their father’s death. Meanwhile, Hallie has just found out some upsetting news ... more >
B Reviews / Book ReviewsContemporary / dysfunctional family / England / family relationships / farming / First-Person / second chance romance / sisters / Yorkshire8 Comments
Needing an escape, Dora swapped city living for life as a shepherdess on her grandad’s Yorkshire farm. More than a decade later Dora is still there, now farming the fifty acres and caring for the one hundred rare sheep by herself. She never hears the call of the city, but ... more >
B Reviews / Book Reviewsancient-Egypt / cats / dysfunctional family / Egypt / family relationships / female agency / female leads / Historical / Historical fiction / POC / politics / religionNo Comments
King Tutankhamon is dead. The possibly-divine ivory cat Nefru is still (perhaps) putting a paw into royal Egyptian affairs.Lord Ay wants a royal wife-Tut’s widow, actually-to give him the blood-right to the throne. She flees marriage with him and finds long-lost relatives. Princesses Baketamon and Meri have both longed to ... more >