by Yvonne Osborne Rating: ***** Trying to cope with the recent loss of her mother, Sadie Wixom is immersing herself in the rural Michigan farmstead she shares with her father and Grandfather. When her aunt temporarily houses an Indigenous family from Saskatchewan, Canada, Sadie is intrigued, especially by the son, Stefan.  Both free-spirits, damaged, and impacted by loss, Stefan and Sadie forge a connection. But, as racial bigotry in the local town escalates, and Stefan’s eld

by Chet Nairene Rating: ***** Thirty-six-year-old tech wizard, Lew Clarke is about to ascend to god-like status at the corporate behemoth he has worked for since leaving Harvard. Accolades, and more importantly to Lew, eye-watering levels of financial recompense are raining down on him.   But when a minor, forgotten issue floats shockingly to the surface, Lew’s gold-plated, superficial existence implodes. After licking his wounds, Lew embarks on a new business venture, import

by George Veck Rating: ***** Twenty-five-year-old cue hustler, Alfie “ Whack a Tenner on ” Fenner has exhausted the Gwynedd pool and snooker small-time money matches and tested the patience of a few old faces. It's time to aim big, Cardiff no less.  Wangling a place on a Sports psychology degree course and with his student loan tucked away, Alfie plans to set the City alight with his cueing prowess and take full advantage of the fame and fortune that will surely follow… Rough

by Mathias B. Freese Rating: ***** In the Throes  introduces the reader to “ Gruff ”, a colossal, grotesquely-rendered, primitive creature who exists in a dystopian toxic hellscape. Gruff develops awareness, linguistics, and the capability for artistic expression through an anomalous evolutionary quirk. He can communicate with humankind, who have always been his prey, and the relationships he forms with them have profound consequences for both species. In the Throes  was draf

by Gail Ward Olmsted Rating: ***** Olmsted’s delightful novel is inspired by Katharine Prescott Wormeley, an independent trailblazer of a woman born in 1830 who became a Civil War nurse and a highly sought-after translator of French literature among many other pursuits, the majority of which were pragmatic and philanthropic. She never married although she had meaningful relationships, one being with a distant relation of the author’s husband. Raised in England, her family emi

by R. David Fulcher Rating: **** The Pumpkin King and Other Tales of Terror  is a concise collection of twenty horror shorts, some only a few pages, and all subtly different in form, perspective, and tone. There is a reassuringly classic feel to Fulcher’s horror anthology which opens with “ Eulogy to E.A. Poe ”. Overall, the tales are traditionally spooky, with a couple of exceptions, and combined with Fulcher’s measured yet descriptive prose provide spine-tinglingly creepy r

by John A. Heldt Rating: ***** Duties and Dreams , the last installment in Heldt’s Second Chance  series * finds the extended family of the Carpenters and Lees with new additions, aspirations, and ambitions. Life is good for the blended Carpenter-Lee clan, living together in Hermosa Beach, Southern California, 1918. But the three time-traveling siblings, Bill, Annie, and Paul, know the storm clouds of World War I are far from lifting and there is also the small matter of a S

by J. T. Baroni Rating: *** When sports journalist Christian Kane misses out on a promotion that he assumed would be his, he is stunned and resigns from The Pittsburgh Post Gazette  in disgust. Despite his wife Shelby’s reservations, the Kanes move to the country where Christian intends to spend his days writing a novel. When he comes across a solitary gravestone on the boundary of their new estate, once known as “Tremont Farm”, he is fascinated, even more so when the inscrip

by Kathryn Amurra Rating: **** Val Nikolov was a skeptical nineteen-year-old when his Bulgarian grandmother gifted him an amulet, claiming it had magical properties. Seventeen years later, Val is wealthy and successful, thanks to the amulet, and about to oversee a lucrative acquisition of his company, Span Global. Temp contract attorney, Alex Weaver, is helping Span Global with the due diligence process. When an employee's departure places the acquisition at risk, she has to

by Chas Halpern Rating: **** The Physics of Relationships  is a lovely novel that I found a light, easy read although it explores subjects far from light or easy. Halpern examines issues including loss, relationship dynamics, and forgiveness through the reflections of Lexi, a recently widowed sixty-three-year-old. Using the immediacy of the first-person perspective, Lexi shares her thoughts, opinions, and internal conflicts as she navigates unexpected lodgers, strange proposa