Reviews
The Paladin of Rimini
D.J. Paolini ()
D.J. Paolini's The Paladin of Rimini is a compelling multi-generational saga spanning from 1982 to 2017. Angelina Fabrizzi is a woman burdened by severe family abuse and financial ruin. After her mother, Isabella, was forced into marriage and died from cancer, Angelina suffered through an abusive union with Giovanni until her godmother, Valentina, a fierce former carabinieri, finally intervened. In 2017, widowed and in heavy debt, Angelina meets Benjamin LaRocca, an American travel writer, on a train to Rimini. Benjamin becomes her tenant, and...
The Shadow Earl
Stella Riley (Independently published)
In The Shadow Earl by Stella Riley, Christian Selwyn, Earl of Hazelmere, vanishes during his Grand Tour when his jealous cousin, Basil, bribes a guide to sell him into slavery. Captive for three years in Turkey, Christian survives while loyal friends search relentlessly. Returning to London years later, he finds Basil living in his home, spending his money, and courting Christian's betrothed, Sophia Kelsall. The man who left five years ago returns a changed man, and everyone is asking questions about what happened to him and what secrets he car...
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Mommy's Boy: How My Doggie Soulmate's Love Rescued Me
Jennifer Huston Schaeffer (White Dog Books)
Jennifer Huston Schaeffer's memoir, Mommy's Boy, is a unique story of a bond between a woman and her canine son, a story of the transformative decade she spent with Benny, a rescued Westie-Maltese mix who became her “doggie soulmate.” Following heartbreaks and realizing traditional motherhood might not be her future, Jennifer adopts Benny in 2014, finding unconditional love that heals her loneliness. The narrative follows their journey from Chicago to Indianapolis, where Benny helps Jennifer pursue a romance with Brad. Together, they face Benny...
From Tea to Coffee: The Journey of an "Educated Youth"
Cheng Wang (Open Books)
Cheng Wang's memoir, From Tea to Coffee: The Journey of an “Educated Youth,” chronicles a remarkable journey across half a century and two continents. Beginning in Mao-era China, Wang is sent as an “Educated Youth” to a remote Inner Mongolian village for re-education during the Cultural Revolution. Following Mao's death and the reopening of universities, he passes the rigorous GaoKao exam, attends college in Dalian, and works in Beijing's electronics industry. In 1984, seeking broader horizons, he emigrates to the United States with only $200....
The Rabbi's Knight
Michael J Cooper (Koehler Books)
Set in 1290 during the twilight of the Crusades, Michael J Cooper’s The Rabbi's Knight follows Knight Templar Jonathan St. Clair and Rabbi Samuel on a very perilous journey from Acre to Jerusalem. St. Clair bears an ancient manuscript containing secrets to the Temple Mount, which Samuel helps decipher through Kabbalistic instruction. However, their pilgrimage is fraught with danger; a rival rabbi, Solomon Petit, conspires with an Emir to assassinate Samuel and sell Acre’s defenses to the Mamluks. As the last Christian stronghold braces for sieg...
Connective Tissue
Ryan Normandeau (Forbes Books)
Ryan Normandeau’s Connective Tissue is a compelling memoir and business guide detailing his rise from a modest upbringing in New Hampshire to becoming a successful entrepreneur in the high-stakes medical device industry. Normandeau chronicles his journey from an athletic background to working as a medical device representative, described as the “caddie” in the operating room, before founding and selling his own distributorships. Blending personal storytelling with industry insights, the book provides a roadmap for handling this lucrative yet de...
Persona
William J. Cook (Next Chapter Publishing)
In William J. Cook's intense psychological thriller Persona, Dr. Carter Lane, a Salem psychiatrist, faces a nightmare after his best friend Michael’s suicide and therapist Roslyn’s attack. When his wife Julia is murdered and decapitated, mimicking the infamous “Hoffman Horror,” a case from Carter’s past where he treated a man who killed his family. Suspecting his dissociative identity disorder (DID) patient, Arthur Frampton, Carter is pulled into a complex web of deceit and disturbing accusations. As persistent detectives Rochefort and Dyk...
Berlin Bitte: A Behind The Curtain Novel
David Axson (SONAX GROUP)
Berlin Bitte is the second book in the Behind the Curtain series by David A. J. Axson, and having read False Flag, the first book in the series, I picked this one with excitement. It didn’t disappoint. The story pulled me in with the setting in 1966, an important moment in the Cold War dynamics, as the Iron Curtain shows signs of fracturing. MI6 agent Nic Slater is stationed in Berlin to rebuild Britain’s already nonexistent spy network following numerous defections. Meanwhile, in Moscow, his former clandestine partner and KGB agent Irina Sashk...
False Flag (Behind The Curtain Book 1)
David A. J. Axson (SONAX GROUP)
In David A. J. Axson’s False Flag, MI6 recruit Nic Slater deploys to Moscow in 1964, encountering KGB agent Irina Sashkaya. The Cold War is at its peak, and the US is enmeshed in a war in Vietnam. The two agents uncover Operation Vanquish, a Soviet strategy linking events like JFK's assassination to planned invasions of Finland and Iran. Collaborating as double agents, they manipulate intelligence services—including MI6's SirRod and CIA’s Moses Ranger—to bluff the Politburo into aborting attacks. Can the SAS and US interventions thwart the inva...
The Quiet One
Cameron Lane (Stone House Editions)
In The Quiet One, urban planner Sera Linden arrives in the stubborn coastal town of Wintermere to revitalize the historic St. Avila's Chapel. She expects resistance but finds an unexpected ally in Julian Vero, a reclusive craftsman secretly restoring the chapel without credit. Their relationship unfolds not through dialogue, but through shared silence and mutual respect for the space. A single kiss acknowledges their growing bond, but corporate reassignment forcibly separates them. Sera eventually returns to present a revised proposal that hono...