In Angela Castillo’s The River Girl’s Song, the reader experiences the vulnerability of 1880s Bastrop, Texas. Sixteen-year-old Zillia Bright is abandoned with her baby brother on the family farm. The reader’s heart will ache for the lifestyle of poverty and backbreaking work endured by this...

As Jericho Falls by Karen C. Webb is a haunting, captivating coming-of-age story set in the wilds of Appalachia, deep in the mountains of North Carolina. Lauren is a fifteen-year-old girl who lives near the remote community of Jericho Falls on a small family farm....

Angela Castillo’s The Amazing Adventures of Toby the Trilby is a lovely tale for children about young Toby, part cat and part human boy, who has been created by his Grambles (guardians) because they wanted a grandchild. They all live in caverns below ground because...

Toby’s obsession with trying to see into the heavens leads him to his next adventure in The Further Adventures of Toby the Trilby by Angela Castillo. A bright flash falling into the forest catches Toby’s attention and the voice of Father God tells him to...

The Children of Darkness by David Litwack is a compelling tale set in a future where religion has taken over people's lives. Three friends, Orah, Nathaniel and Thomas, find their bond tested as they uncover the complex secrets of a religion hell-bent on imparting their...

Things are looking bleak for both Kate and "the kid" at the start of Anne Rothman-Hicks and Kenneth Hicks' novel, Kate and the Kid. Kate lost her editorial job at a NYC publishing company and had a huge, possibly relationship ending, fight with her lawyer...

The Creature Behind You by Sam Kuban is quite an exciting read that will make young readers wonder about the noises they hear and the shadows they see. The creature follows behind as you creep down the stairs and its voice is the creaking of...

Gooseberry Island by Steven Manchester has its beginnings in a chance encounter between Lindsey Wood and David McClain, which sparks romance between them. The romance is kept alive through Skype when he is back on duty in Afghanistan. In Afghanistan he has to witness horrendous...

Surrounded by spirits most of her life, Abby Marcelli had her fair share of haunting. But finally she's had enough. However, will the spirits let her go and will she be able to shut out the voices? Hildebranch Academy might just be the solution to...

Always October by C.E. Edmonson is one of those novels that requires a lot of word space to review, which is why I’m not using my regular review style. Lucas Taylor has lived his life. He may not live long, but he is not giving...

Morgan's Ruin is a private investigator mystery written by Charles R. Kittle. The Morgan Valve Company had been a fixture in New Brighton for many years, but its continued existence was being threatened by what appeared to be the work of an internal saboteur. Irate...

Fallen Men: A Story of Three Priests by Brian O’Hare was a challenging read for me. Not challenging in a bad way; it was just challenging. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I picked it up. Was it a treatise on Catholicism or...

In Artama & The Watchtower Portal: The Second Journey by Bruce Paul, Artama's first forbidden trip across The Plain was a miraculous success. His success, however, attracted some unwanted attention and soon The Town was in danger of being destroyed by greedy men seeking a...

The Acheron Deception by Patrick F. Rooney is the story of Mikhail Volkov, who, utilizing the calamitous breakup of the Soviet Union, creates an altogether different scenario - stealing nuclear weapons from a Russian test facility. It is also the story of Sean McGowan, a...

In My Serenity by M. Clarke, Seth Stewart was on a fantastic ride that took him only upward. His life is good. He has an internship, even though he just completed his first year at Berkeley Business School. But things take a devastating turn when...

Courage Resurrected: A Ray Courage Mystery is Book 3 in R. Scott Mackey's Ray Courage Private Investigator Series. November 11 is a tragic anniversary for Ray Courage, despite it being 13 years after the fact. He's never stopped wondering about the death of his wife,...

The Illuminator's Test (The Voyages of the Legend) (Volume 2) by Alina Sayre revolves around the life of Ellie and her friends who start their new lives on the flying island of Rhynlyr. She has a role to play in the war against Draaken, but...

When Tiffanie Bate is killed in a suspicious accident, neither the police nor the insurance investigators can prove she was murdered and the case turns cold. Two years later the insurance company asks former college professor turned private eye, Ray Courage, to reopen the investigation....

Whoa! Can you say ‘thrill ride?’ That is definitely how I would describe A Fine Line: The Ancients, Part One by author J.C. Brennan. The story begins with the William Healthaway family. Having survived an attack by the Damned and triumphing over Tetron, the evil...

The Unforgiven is a work of epic fantasy by A. Katie Rose, set in a world of warring kings, prophecies, gods and magic. Our trio of central characters shares the same goal, but for different purposes: recover the child of prophecy, the one said to...