Lilly Jean is a work of fiction in the interpersonal drama, family saga, and emotional writing genres, and is the sixth novel in The Cedar Cove Chronicles penned by author Cynthia Ulmer. The plot follows the titular character, Lilly Jean, as she navigates the challenges...

Short fiction is not hard to come by, but impactful short fiction is. Danila Botha's Things That Cause Inappropriate Happiness is a collection of slice-of-life stories around themes of diversity, wonder, and femininity. My favorite story is Don't Look Back. It follows a young artist...

Set in 1980, The Cop Reporter by PJ Jones is an immersive women’s novel that follows the life of Abilene-based reporter, Kat Coe. When Kat is transferred from San Angelo Standard-Times to Abilene Reporter-News, she views it as a great opportunity to grow and leave...

Lost Family by Katherine Williams is a wonderful down-to-earth story about a time in history that most people would like to forget, especially when innocent people have lost their lives because of jealousy, greed, and envy. This fast-moving story starts just before Covid-19 in 2020...

The first thing Joe Dowling did after settling into their new home was to plant a willow in their backyard. The tree bore witness to Joe and Margaret’s life as they raised their four girls. Debra, the eldest, had a go-getter attitude that made her...

Amy Maroney’s The Girl From Oto is a well-crafted captivating mystery novel. The story is set in two different centuries and follows the lives of two women. Zari Durrell is a contemporary art historian and scholar from California. In 2014-5, Zari is on a University...

What could the connection be between a gallery opening featuring Egyptian artifacts, bombs going off, fires all over London, and police sergeant Jackson Randolph? This puzzle appears in the opening pages of The Last Rays of Ra by Karina McRoberts. The central character Doctor Vahlona...

Quigley Tree, the protagonist of Linda A. Lavid’s novel of the same name, is a young woman with an odd name. A college dropout from a dysfunctional home, and recently escaped from a relationship with a narcissist, Quigley needs to find a new place to...

In Underneath the Honeysuckle Vine: Beyond Cedar Cove, Book One by Cynthia Ulmer, six-year-old Carin Evans struggles to understand the ridicule she endures in a town where her mother's family is revered. As she takes in the beehive hairdos and limited views of the 1960s,...

In Exit Velocity by Barbara Gregorich, Rowan Pickett grapples with grief, unemployment, and societal tensions while encountering a mysterious parrot. Amidst her struggles, she seeks help from Titus Longshaw, navigating interruptions from Jake Terranova and encounters with Zeb Snoddy. Securing a job boosts her confidence,...