Tag: review (Page 5 of 26)

THE SWELL by Allie Reynolds

July 19, 2022 / Kyle Wendy Skultety / 1 Comment

Point Break meets And Then There Were None in a pulse-pounding beach read that explores the dangerous ties between a group of elite surfers who are determined to find the perfect waves at any cost…even murder.

The waves are to die for.
Three years ago, passionate surfer Kenna Ward lost her two great loves—after her boyfriend drowned, she hung up her surfboard and swore off the water for good. But she is drawn back to the beach when her best friend, Mikki, announces her sudden engagement to a man Kenna has never met—a member of a tight-knit group of surfers. Kenna travels to a remote Australian beach, entering a dangerous world far from civilization where the waves, weather, and tides are all that matter. Kenna is tempted back into the surf and drawn into the dazzling group and the beach they call their own.

But this coastal paradise has a dark side, and members of the group begin to go missing. Kenna realizes that in order to protect Mikki and learn more about the surfers, she must become one of them…without becoming one of their victims. What follows is an adrenaline-fueled thriller packed with twists and turns, exploring the dangerous edge between passion and obsession.

THE SWELL was a story that grabbed you right away and sucked you into all the characters’ drama. And there is A LOT of drama! The isolated beach setting was perfect, quite different from many of the thrillers I’ve read. One of the good parts about the setting is that it loomed large in the plot – the waves, the weather, and the confinement of it all just hovered above the characters and slowly began to smother them like a wet blanket.

Everyone seems to be an unreliable narrator and as I read, I didn’t know who to believe. This book is so filled with twists and suspense that I’m having a hard time writing this, since I don’t want to spoil the story for you.

Each chapter is written from the point of view of each character, some more than others. My first thought would be to have less of the POV of Kenna (the one that joins the surfers and is considered a newbie) and more of the others. I got frustrated more and more each time Kenna asked a question; maybe some of her queries could have been answered by having a chapter in the POV of the others. Belatedly I understood that my personal reaction to all those questions was to mirror how the others felt about her never ending stream of “Why is this…?” and “Who said that…?” among other, more pointed questions. Yes, the answers to all her questions furthered the plot along and doled out information slowly, to keep us guessing about what would happen next. As I continued reading, however, there were times that I wanted to shake Kenna and tell her to have a simple conversation without nosing into everyone’s business.

I really enjoyed all the surfing lingo and descriptions of the ocean waves, as well as the danger of it all. The setting is wild and unforgiving, with treachery everywhere. Kenna’s interactions with the others are treacherous as well, as she is unable to tell who is being truthful.

Each character’s backstory is explained along the way, and the tension builds and builds since the author gives the reader just enough information to make them rethink everything they’ve learned so far. Their personalities mesh, then break apart, just like an episode of “Survivor”.

This was a get-under-your-skin read, and I didn’t want to put it down! The author’s style is a good combination of dialogue and description, and the ending is something you will totally never see coming. I’m planning to read Reynold’s debut novel, SHIVER, and I hope it’s as good as this one.

Love twisty psychological stories? You can pick up your copy here.

THE DOCTOR OF THE GREAT NORTH WOODS by Sawyer Hall

July 12, 2022 / Kyle Wendy Skultety / 0 Comments

As a newly minted family medicine doctor, Aubrey Lane can’t wait to leave the toughest days of her training behind her. She’s worked nights, weekends, and holidays, only to watch her twenties go by in a blur. She’s ready for a vacation.
But just as she’s about to walk out of the hospital for the last time, she receives some devastating news: her father is dead. The circumstances are mysterious, the cause unknown. Was it a heart attack? A strange illness? Her mother won’t give her any details, but her message is clear: You need to come home.
Something strange is happening in the Great North Woods of Maine. But even as Aubrey tries to cope with her own grief and confusion, she knows that her tiny village has just lost its only doctor. And she may be their only hope.

Thanks to Reedsy Discovery for this review copy!

The Doctor of the Great North Woods by Sawyer Hall is a fast-paced medical thriller that takes place in the eerie, sparsely occupied town of Callihax, Maine. Dr. Aubrey Lane, who lives in California, has just finished her residency when she receives word that her father, who was the town’s only physician, has died. She flies back to her hometown and quickly discovers that her father’s death may have been the result of foul play. She is forced to confront her demons: the relationship between her and the town’s 431 tight-knit residents, as well as her relationship with her long-ago first love, Luke Ainsley. Aubrey is unsure who she can trust and she soon finds herself in mortal danger as she delves deeper into the circumstances of her father’s death.

I would consider this a medical thriller “light”, that is, very minimal gore and medical talk and heavy on the personal relationships between Aubrey and her mother, Luke, Sheriff Jim Ranson, replacement doctor Sheldon Kline, and other colorful town characters. There is also a curious relationship between Aubrey and the Great North Woods themselves, which adds another layer of suspense to the story. Here’s a paragraph describing Aubrey’s drive to Callihax:

An hour outside of Bangor, the signs of suburbia began to fade. ….Then came the perverse sense of abandonment: rusted signs and toppled garbage cans. Mailboxes with chipped paint, no numbers. Side roads that deteriorated into gravel, then dirt, then shadows. I passed campsites with weeded parking lots and hotels with punched-out windows. And woods. Millions upon millions of woods. There was something terrifyingly claustrophobic about all those woods.

Aubrey’s reluctance to trust others is a main plot point. She comes across as a sympathetic character, lacking in self-esteem, with no choice but to defer to the overbearing personality of the experienced Dr Kline. His character is arrogant, pompous, and thoroughly unlikeable. Every time he treated Aubrey like a lackey, I cringed and wished she had more of a backbone.

Aubrey is also reluctant to explore the emotions she feels whenever she is around ex-love Luke, not wanting to revisit the reasons behind their breakup 12 years ago. The tension between them is obvious from the start and the author develops this plot point well, not making it overly sexual or saccharine.

I vacillated between trusting/not trusting Luke, as I was not sure what his motives were. He seemed to be a one-dimensional character for part of the book, then as the story progressed he developed more into a multi-layered person.

The author’s writing style is easy to fall into, and the plot grabbed me right away and kept me interested all throughout. As Aubrey is learning more about her father’s medical practice, she discovers that last summer four boys died of a mysterious disease. Her father worked intently to save the boys and learn more about the disease but was constrained by the town’s remoteness and lack of emergency services. Aubrey’s amateur detective work puts her in the crosshairs of a mysterious person who is intent on stopping her before she finds out the truth.

Towards the end of the book, there are a few plot twists that I didn’t see coming. This ramped up my already piqued interest and kept me racing through the book, as I was quite eager to see how things would all turn out. The ending was easily believed and I felt there were no loose ends.

Aubrey is quite an interesting character, and I would love to see this turn into a series. I can picture her bonding with the town’s residents, trying to come to terms with the Great North Woods, and perhaps solving another mystery or two.

This story reminded me of the Timber Creek series written by Margaret Mizushima. Her stories take place in the Colorado high country, and the setting really adds to the plot. The author brings Timber Creek to the forefront of the stories using picturesque language and thorough descriptions of the rugged land. In each book, Deputy Mattie Cobb and her K-9 partner, Robo are called upon to solve mysteries and keep the townsfolk safe. Mizushima works at her husband’s veterinary clinic when not writing, and she truly brings the K-9 Robo to life, describing each nose twitch and growl realistically. If you have not read any of her books, I highly recommend you check them out.

I give this book 4 stars, as I felt a real connection to the characters and was invested in how the author would bring this story to a close. I was left both satisfied with the ending yet wanting to read more, hence my thoughts about a series. Sawyer Hall has written other books, and I headed over to Amazon to grab a copy of Playing God. Hopefully it will be as good as this one!

You can pick up your copy here.

CABIN FEVER by Michael Smith & Jonathan Franklin

June 21, 2022 / Kyle Wendy Skultety / 0 Comments

The true story of the Holland America cruise ship Zaandam, which set sail with a deadly and little-understood stowaway—COVID-19—days before the world shut down in March 2020. This riveting narrative thriller takes readers behind the scenes with passengers and crew who were caught unprepared for the deadly ordeal that lay ahead.

In early 2020, the world was on edge. An ominous virus was spreading on different continents, and no one knew what the coming weeks would bring. Far from the hot spots, the cruise ship Zaandam, owned by Holland America, was preparing to sail from Buenos Aires, Argentina, loaded with 1,200 passengers—Americans, Europeans and South Americans, plus 600 crew.

Most passengers were over the age of sixty-five. There was concern about the virus on the news, and it had already killed and sickened passengers on other Holland America ships. But that was oceans away and escaping to sea at the ends of the earth for a few weeks seemed like it might be a good option. The cruise line had said the voyage (three weeks around the South American coastline to see some of the world’s most stunning natural wonders and ancient ruins) would carry on as scheduled, with no refunds. And it would be safe.
Among the travelers there is a retired American school superintendent on a dream vacation with his wife of fifty-six years, on a personal quest to see Machu Picchu. There is an Argentine psychologist taking this trip to celebrate her sixty-fourth birthday with her husband, though she finds herself fretting in her cabin on day one, trying to dismiss her fears of what she’s hearing on the news. There is an Indonesian laundry manager who’s been toiling on Holland America cruise ships for thirty years, sending his monthly paycheck to his family back home.

Within days, people aboard Zaandam begin to fall sick. The world’s ports shut down. Zaandam becomes a top story on the news and is denied safe harbor everywhere. With only two doctors aboard and few medical supplies to test for or treat COVID-19, and with dwindling food and water, the ship wanders the oceans on an unthinkable journey.

Thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for this review copy!

CABIN FEVER is an amazing, scary, well-written book about the pariah cruise ship Zaandam, one of the last ships to depart before the Covid-19 pandemic forced a worldwide lockdown. The book follows a few passengers’ stories as well as some of the crew’s; these are told with humanity and a lot of detail. Reading about the passengers’ confinement to their cabins made me feel as claustrophobic as they must have been.

I have never been on a cruise ship, so I found the descriptions of the inner workings of one fascinating. There was a portion of the book noting how much food and beverages are needed on a cruise; over 40,000 eggs, pallets of bottled water, etc. The sheer size of the ship amazed me; I marveled at all the activities that were a regular part of a cruise. Some of you might find the detail gratuitous, but I was enthralled. (I will say that after reading CABIN FEVER I will never go on a cruise; one of my nightmares is being stuck out at sea like the Zaandam was.)

Authors Smith and Franklin did a wonderful job of moving between passengers and crew as their stories were told. It was easy to feel sorry for them as they were shuttled back and forth from port to port, looking for a friendly place to dock. The tension ratchets up as the book goes on, people are getting sick(er) and the Zaandam turns into an exiled Covid vessel.

Even if you had followed the story on the news and know how everything turned out, the authors create a layer of human interest that makes you hang on every word – will your favorite characters get sick, or die? The behind-the-scenes inclusion of the diplomatic struggles are epic, strings are pulled, favors are called in, yet everything continues to be a struggle for the beleaguered ship.

Also emphasized is the abject fear of Covid – these events take place as the virus rapidly spreads around the world; humanity closes ranks and eyes others (especially foreigners) as personae non gratae – virus vectors. The fear is palpable as more people get sick, both on and off the ship. As I kept reading, my own fears came flooding back as I remembered the onset of this emerging disease. We have come so far from those days; a lot of people have taken their masks off due to “Covid fatigue” while others are super cautious and may still be wearing double masks and stocking up on supplies in case of another lockdown.

CABIN FEVER is one of the best books I’ve reviewed this year. It reads like a fictional suspense novel, made more riveting because it’s all true. The authors’ style makes the reading easy as the story flows seamlessly by. The story held my interest as the plot moved between the crew, the passengers, and the massive ship itself. I urge you to grab this book right away. I loved it!

You can pick up a copy here.

SAWBONES by Ed Kurtz

May 17, 2022 / Kyle Wendy Skultety / 0 Comments

“I was to make myself a killer.” In 1865, a man calling himself Septimus Whitehall slashed, shot, and burned his way from New York to California in a frenzy of violence. This is his own story, told in his own words.
Seven names were on the doctor’s list. Seven men and women scattered all over the United States and its western territories. Seven souls judged guilty by a mysterious man with no past apart from the loss for which his enemies are blamed. The War Between the States is over, but Septimus Whitehall intends to wage a bloody war of his own and he is willing to cut down almost anyone who stands in his way. From New York City and Boston on the cusp of the Gilded Age to the war-ravaged ruins of Alabama and Arkansas, through the mythic American West and beyond, Whitehall will practice his violent vocation until everyone on that list meets the Sawbones.

Thanks to NetGalley and Crossroad Press for this review copy!

SAWBONES is quite the unusual read. The author creates a sympathetic character in Septimus Whitehall as he travels from New York City to the Dakota Territory, seeking to murder those who are on his “list” of victims. Whitehall is avenging the death of his only love by taking the lives of those who were involved in her death, either directly or indirectly. There is wonderful detail in the author’s descriptions of Five Points in the 1800’s, as well as the Civil War, and the unsettled West. As I read, I felt as if I were there, seeing, hearing and smelling the same things Septimus was.

Another curious and fascinating thing about SAWBONES is the author’s use of language. I consider myself to be quite familiar with the English language; yet there were many words that I needed to look up. As I read the definitions I felt as if I had struck gold. I became familiar with words such as effigial, pantophagy, and raillery. As I’ve said before, any book that makes me look up definitions is always a winner.

Septimus is at times a complete gentleman and then a murderer. He stalks his prey yet remains courteous to others. He is clearly an intelligent man with deep emotions but with a singular goal; eliminate those on his macabre list. During his journey he encounters many roadblocks, skirting his own death all the while. He is a solitary man with one purpose in life, and it is easy to cheer him on as he searches for his victims.

This is definitely a violent and gory read, but the balance of gore and period detail are perfectly blended. As I kept reading, I wondered when the book would draw to a close – it is actually quite long. However, the author kept me interested by throwing in some action just as the book bordered on dull/too much description. That being said, I totally loved SAWBONES. It’s a quirky, intelligent read that will stay with you long after you are done reading. I would love to see a sequel to see what Septimus is up to now.

You can get your copy here.

SPARE PARTS by Paul Craddock

April 5, 2022 / Kyle Wendy Skultety / 0 Comments

Paul Craddock’s Spare Parts offers an original look at the history of medicine itself through the rich, compelling, and delightfully macabre story of transplant surgery from ancient times to the present day.

How did an architect help pioneer blood transfusion in the 1660’s?
Why did eighteenth-century dentists buy the live teeth of poor children?
And what role did a sausage skin and an enamel bath play in making kidney transplants a reality?

We think of transplant surgery as one of the medical wonders of the modern world. But transplant surgery is as ancient as the pyramids, with a history more surprising than we might expect. Paul Craddock takes us on a journey – from sixteenth-century skin grafting to contemporary stem cell transplants – uncovering stories of operations performed by unexpected people in unexpected places. Bringing together philosophy, science and cultural history, Spare Parts explores how transplant surgery constantly tested the boundaries between human, animal, and machine, and continues to do so today.
Witty, entertaining, and illuminating, Spare Parts shows us that the history – and future – of transplant surgery is tied up with questions about not only who we are, but also what we are, and what we might become.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for this ARC! The subtitle of this book is: The Story of Medicine through the History of Transplant Surgery. There is minimal gore (there are a few exceptions) and a great deal of history. The first chapter starts in the 1500’s and starts out with “Skin” and ends in the 1960’s with “Organs” and “Transplant Future”. The book also includes illustrations that add another dimension to the written word.

I always love when a book piques my interest so much that I Google the subject to learn more. SPARE PARTS does just that. One of the more…interesting… items was an old YouTube video of disembodied parts living outside the body of deceased dogs. The film was made in 1940 and is found under the title of “Experiments in the Revival of Organisms”. The highlight (?) of this film is a disembodied dog head reacting to stimuli as it is kept “alive” by an artificial heart and lungs. Not for the faint of heart.

I was totally unaware of the history behind transplants, so reading this book was quite intriguing. Apparently tooth transplants were all the rage in the late 1600’s, with poor children selling their teeth to be transplanted into the mouths of the wealthy. It was poignant to think that the only items of value that those poor children had were their teeth. The book makes note that they were quite eager to sell their dentition in order to make money so they could eat. I am not sure how satisfying meals were, having to consume their food with minimal or no teeth in their mouth.

The book also discusses blood transfusions between humans and animals, and kidney/heart/organ transplants. There is a great deal of history along with the author’s thoughts on the subjects. SPARE PARTS is written well, in a way that a reader with no medical background will understand. Those with a medical background will enjoy it as well, as the history aspect may add another layer to their knowledge.

I enjoyed reading SPARE PARTS so much, as it taught me more of the historical aspect of transplants and how the practice has evolved over the years. It is always amazing to read about how physicians practiced hundred of years ago, and what they thought about the workings of the human body.

If you are interested in learning more about the unusual history of transplant surgery I definitely recommend this book. Well written and quite interesting!

You can pick up your copy here.

Rare Birds by Natalie Scott

June 30, 2020 / Kyle Wendy Skultety / 0 Comments

The ultimate lockdown reading, Rare Birds creatively tells the story of Holloway Prison’s first 100 years through the re-imagined voices of prisoners, staff and others connected to its history. Meticulously researched, the collection brings to life well-known voices such as Ruth Ellis, Sylvia Pankhurst and Edith Thompson, plus a host of lesser-known names, to tell Holloway’s rich and gripping story.

Thanks to the author for this review copy!

Prison walls seem to talk in RARE BIRDS, a book of poetry about those sentenced to time inside the notorious Holloway Prison. A multitude of characters share their laments with a chorus of voices. These voices come from suffragettes and thieves, pickpockets and murderers, and the author makes nearly all of them sound sympathetic. Some voices are particularly poignant, like the 10 year old pickpocket who marvels at being taught to write his name for the first time (pg.33), or the woman staring through the “hope-sized window” contemplating freedom (pg. 62).

Reading these poems about women fighting hard for the right to vote made me realize how far we have come, for this book brings to life their difficult journey. These voices deserved to be heard in their time, and Scott memorializes their struggle in an imaginative and touching way.

The author truly captures the essence of the prison and its inhabitants in her poems. It is as if she was intimately acquainted with each prisoner and gathered her poem from conversations with each one. Scott did comprehensive work with original documents (you can see which ones, along with a bibliography at the end of the book) to bring the inmates to life. Despite their criminal background (and it’s true some are worse than others) they are all painted in a sympathetic light, as I mentioned before. It is easy to hope that freedom comes quickly for them – even the ones on Death Row. There is a section of poems (pp.124-133) that come from the voices of the executioner, his wife, a prison officer, a juror, and finally the doomed prisoner herself, Ruth Ellis, who died by hanging on July 13^th, 1955. Each voice is different, yet they all contribute to the bigger picture – a prisoner on Death Row who is about to hang. (Ellis was the last woman executed in the United Kingdom; you can read about her here.)

RARE BIRDS is just that – a book of ethereal yet grounded poetry that forces you to think about the prison system and those caught in it. Some are unjustly imprisoned, while others commit unspeakable acts. Whatever the crime, Holloway Prison enveloped its inhabitants in cold bricks and mortar. Scott uses her words here to uncage these birds and immortalize them forever.

You can pick up your copy here.

Murder on Pleasant Avenue by Victoria Thompson

June 9, 2020 / Kyle Wendy Skultety / 0 Comments

When Gino Donatelli is accused of a brutal murder, beloved sleuths Sarah and Frank Malloy have to catch a killer who is out to destroy their innocent friend’s life in the latest installment of the national bestselling Gaslight mysteries.

A victim is found, brutally murdered and the police are certain they’ve caught the killer. Their only suspect: Gino Donatelli.

Frank and Sarah know Gino is innocent but the police have a one-track mind. Once Frank struck it rich and left their ranks taking Gino with him, there has been a simmering resentment in the department. And now, someone has pulled out all the stops to make it look like Gino is the only one who could have committed the crime.

With the clock ticking and evidence mounting against their friend, Sarah and Frank will try to unravel a treacherous plot before Gino is sent up the river for good.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

Once again Sarah and Frank get mixed up in a murder case; in this one Gino is accused of killing a member of the Black Hand and they must clear his name. We see a lot of Maeve in this story, especially in the interactions with Gino. I enjoyed reading their dialogue and loved to picture them flirting with each other. I also got a kick out of Maeve sitting forlornly at her typewriter, practicing her typing while wishing all the while for an interruption.

One thing you can always count on is getting some history while hearing of Sarah and Frank’s adventures. The setting for this story is Italian Harlem, and the author paints a wonderful picture of how the inhabitants lived (and died). This is one of my favorite aspects of the Gaslight Mysteries: Thompson always makes me feel like I have been taken back in time and am living right alongside all her characters. One point of interest is that the author doesn’t censor the seedier parts of the period. We get to see the homeless, we hear about abortions, and we get to experience tenement life. Thompson does her best to make nearly everyone sympathetic, so this makes the story friendlier, and the book very readable as well.

Speaking of characters, some new ones are introduced in this book. We meet Teo, Gino’s sister-in-law, as well as the rest of Gino’s family. One of the funnier sequences in the book is when Maeve needs to go to Gino’s house; her family misunderstands her reason and want to get her out of the house. Thank goodness Maeve is able to straighten everyone out!

I was unable to figure out who dunnit, and that was a plus. It can get frustrating when you know who the bad guys are before the main characters do. My guess was between two characters, and I was surprised to finally learn who it was. As always, the story gets tied up neatly, with the last page a portent of what is to come in the next installment. I enjoyed this book very much and am looking forward to her next one. You can pick up your copy here.

Masked Prey by John Sandford

May 26, 2020 / Kyle Wendy Skultety / 0 Comments

Lucas Davenport investigates a vitriolic blog that seems to be targeting the children of U.S. politicians in the latest thriller by #1 New York Times-bestselling author John Sandford.

The daughter of a U.S. Senator is monitoring her social media presence when she finds a picture of herself on a strange blog. And there are other pictures . . . of the children of other influential Washington politicians, walking or standing outside their schools, each identified by name. Surrounding the photos are texts of vicious political rants from a motley variety of radical groups.

It’s obviously alarming–is there an unstable extremist tracking the loved ones of powerful politicians with deadly intent? But when the FBI is called in, there isn’t much the feds can do. The anonymous photographer can’t be pinned down to one location or IP address, and more importantly, at least to the paper-processing bureaucrats, no crime has actually been committed. With nowhere else to turn, influential Senators decide to call in someone who can operate outside the FBI’s constraints: Lucas Davenport.

Thanks to NetGalley for this review copy!

Lots of politicking and Nazi alt-right groups in this Davenport outing. Lucas is still smarting from the bullet he took a few months ago, so when he gets a call from Washington demanding his presence, he is not all that eager to go. What he finds when he gets there is a twisted plot that takes nearly the entire book to resolve.

In the meantime, we have favorite characters Bob and Rae, lots of dialogue which moves the book along, and more information about alt-right groups that you never wanted to know. The book shifts back and forth between multiple subplots, which makes the book a bit draggy in places. Towards the end the action ramps up so that the pages are turning a lot quicker.

Bob and Rae are solid as usual, cracking wise and kicking ass. The scenes in which they help Davenport are some of the most entertaining ones in the book. However, it seems that Lucas was affected by the shooting in which he was wounded, and it shows. He is more thoughtful and less raw. He’s not happy about dealing with the Washington crowd, but handles it with diplomatic aplomb. Is this the start of an older, wiser Lucas Davenport? According to Goodreads at the time of this writing, MASKED PREY was a solid 4 stars. I’m not sure why this book didn’t get that fifth star, unless it was the “new” Lucas.

I enjoyed the book well enough, but I’m going to give it four stars as well. There was a bit too much politics. 20% into the book, when Davenport meets alt-right expert Charles Lang and his assistant Stephen Gibson, Lang reminded me a tiny bit of Hannibal Lecter, but without the shock factor and the gore. Lang seemed to thrive on information, and he was hungry for some all throughout the book. I found those interactions a bit creepy. Now that I think about it, both Lang and Gibson did need to be in the book under the guise of plot thickening, but I still don’t like Lang.

Davenport fans should enjoy this albeit a bit mildly. Hardcore readers will gobble this up and look for more, while first time readers may find it a bit dry. I fall between those groups…that said there is nothing like a good Prey novel to while away the hours. MASKED PREY filled a few hours for me, and I enjoyed it more than mildly….yet not 5 stars worth.

You can pick up your copy here.

Soup To Nuts by Judith Deborah

April 21, 2020 / Kyle Wendy Skultety / 0 Comments

What do you do when your best friend marries someone who isn’t you?

Romy Belkin—28, unrepentant English major, a Michelangelo in the kitchen—is the culinary genius behind viral YouTube channel A Dash of Paprika. Its star is the fabulous Pia Zimble, Romy’s dearest friend. But one day, a fan of the show materializes—a man Romy has to admit is perfect for Pia—and sweeps her friend out of their kitchen and into a whole new life.

Bereft but trying not to be, Romy throws herself into navigating her new landscape. But the stakes of her explorations are higher than she thinks. If she’s not careful, Romy could lose herself along the way—as well as the chance to love and be loved by a soulmate of her own.

A witty and warm-hearted comic love story, Soup to Nuts is a novel about deep and enduring friendship, love in its many varieties, and truly spectacular food.

Thanks to the author for this review copy!

SOUP TO NUTS is a sweet romantic comedy about Pia and Romy, two besties who work on a food blog together, happily ever after clearly in sight…. until Pia finds the love of her life. Romy needs to learn to live her life without being joined at the hip with Pia.

Told in Romy’s voice, SOUP TO NUTS takes us through Romy’s journey post-Pia. At first, she is in a type of mourning, as she misses Pia and also laments her own lack of male prospects. A friend of hers helps Romy find some blind dates that are fun, but short-lived. No one is clicking for her, and she keeps looking, even though there already is someone in her life that would be perfect for her. Will Romy realize this in time and open her heart, before he finds someone else?

The author hits the perfect blend of romantic and comedy – not too heavy on either side, which is perfect for me. Both Pia and Romy are developed well, and I was able to feel their emotions clearly, whether it was raucous girl fun or a quick flare of anger. The descriptions of Romy’s relatives, especially her mother, are to die for. The author creates the perfect Jewish mother with both love and laughter.

“What on earth are you doing with that silly man?” Ma asked.

“You mean Chip?” said Romy.

“Chip,” Ma said scornfully. “Chip Scott. Never trust a man with two first names.”

“You’re prejudiced. If his name was Chip Rabinowitz, you’d be calling the caterers.”

At times the dialogue is laugh-out-loud funny, other times it turns poignant. I truly felt as if I knew the girls well, and thus became invested in their future. Romy is a cook, and so the book is filled with descriptions of food, sumptuous and hunger-inducing. She turns to her kitchen in times of need, so there is a lot of cooking after Pia gets married and moves out. Her recipes are therapeutic, and we get to experience them one ingredient at a time. The author is skilled at creating images while stimulating the senses, and this is part of what makes SOUP TO NUTS so enthralling. There is so much delight in this little book that you must experience it for yourself. You will fall in love with these characters during the short period you are with them. Hurry – you can pick up your copy here.

Killer Soul Mate by Anne Rothman-Hicks and Kenneth Hicks

April 14, 2020 / Kyle Wendy Skultety / 0 Comments

Jane Larson is back, and trouble abounds on New York’s Upper East Side!

A new client, Jasmine, hires Jane to undo the terms of a matrimonial agreement with her ex-husband, the owner of a prosperous hedge fund who does not like to lose. At the same time, Jane’s landlord is working to evict her from the storefront law office where her mother had practiced for many years, and Jane is forced to fight to save her mother’s legacy. However, it seems there is no way she can win.

All too soon, the bodies begin to pile up and Jane has to figure out who is responsible before she becomes one of the victims. Meanwhile, a guy named Gary is trying to worm his way into her life, and, even though she thinks he is much too young for he, she starts to fall for him. The problem is that he has a habit of showing up where the murders occur. Can she trust him?

Thanks to the authors for this review copy!

Jane Larson is feeling tired and old. To make matters worse, she is served with papers declaring to evict her from her storefront law office. There is also a younger man named Gary flirting with her at the local Y; Jane keeps telling him to scram. And the current case she is working on is a matrimonial one with ironclad clauses, enough to keep her busy. Her client Jasmine is making sure Jane gets paid top dollar – something she is not used to with her regular clients. Suddenly Gary appears in her office bearing papers discussing legal action against him. Jane just doubled her client load, even if the second client is flirty Gary.

More cases come to Jane quickly, and soon she is super busy. Suddenly Jasmine’s ex-husband’s lawyer Kevin is found dead, and his daughter claims foul play. Jane is drawn into a murder investigation, and that is where things really take off. Flirty Gary seems to always be in the middle of things, whether it’s on the same subway train as Jane, or a bar when Jane and Jasmine are hanging out. What is his deal? And who killed Kevin?

This is Jane Larson’s fourth mystery; she was the main character in WEAVE A MURDEROUS WEB, among others, a few years ago. She is still the same feisty woman that we know and love, however, she is slightly softer and more emotional in this book. I liked how the authors gave her more dimensions here.

There are many characters in KILLER SOUL MATE but they are easy to keep track of, and the twisty plot will keep you turning the pages. Towards the end the action ramps up to tie the loose ends together; once the book ends you will wish it didn’t. I hope the 5^th installment of Jane’s adventures comes soon, as this one was fantastic reading.

I loved this book! The authors have a great style of writing that draws you into the story quickly, and they make you truly care about Jane and her clients. The dialogue is captivating, and the character development is thorough; I could picture each one in my head as I raced through the book. I was very invested in Jane and the other characters and was super curious to see how each subplot would be resolved. I especially enjoyed that the romance between Gary and Jane was kept light; there is nothing that bogs down a good murder mystery than a heavy romance. Kudos to the authors!

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