How often are mental health issues pushed under the carpet and ignored? In Breaking Perfect, Elyse Heartwell brings the pain and suffering out of the shadows and into the light. The Dawson family appears perfect on the outside, wealthy and successful, but behind closed doors,...

“It had offered everything he ever wanted in the world, then dared him to shoulder the responsibility that came with it.” Unfortunately, responsibility is in short supply in the novel Nowhere by Ryan Freerksen, but there is much ambition and resentment. Picking up where Somewhere...

In Weeping Boughs Don't Break by Staci Troilo, Claudia is a middle-aged woman trying to rebuild her life after her husband, Leo, cheated on her and their marriage ended. She is buried in bills, worn out from years of emotionally carrying their family, and embarrassed...

In The Iron Tithe by Robert W. Riley, we meet Knight Commander Cedrik Theramond, who serves as the King’s Shield and has the grueling charge of collecting mandatory grain levies. The crux is that these come from famine-struck villages to supply the King's army of...

The Shadow of Death: A Tragedy of Yellow Fever by McKenna Rowell is set in 1793 Philadelphia, where Deborah Allard becomes entangled in a dispute that threatens David Byrne’s family after Mr. Foster accuses his father of a ruinous debt. Just when Deborah uncovers a...

A Wooden Heart in Plotlands by Dawn Knox is a historical novel that follows the intertwined lives of Miriam and Rebekah, two Jewish sisters, as they navigate the challenges of survival during World War II. The story begins in Nazi Germany, where the sisters face...

Snakeroot & Cohosh by Cathy Schieffelin begins when Eva Hoskins leaves her husband, Luther, after years of escalating violence in mid-century Kentucky, disappearing into the hills near Creech. In Helton, she assumes a new identity and gets government work guiding researchers through Appalachian forests, drawing...

In Lizzie Mac’s Family Secrets, Ben, an American in Brussels who's preparing to relocate to England, meets Nina, a British woman who refuses to share her real name or the details of her work. Intrigued by a sense of recognition, they invent aliases and agree...

In Anthony Pond’s Conquistadors, Ryan Jordan joins a small expedition in central Mexico to climb three of the country’s highest volcanoes under the direction of their guide, Ricardo. After becoming ill at a mountain lodge following a meal in town, he chooses to continue with...

The Badass Widows by Valerie Saul is an excellent book. The widows are not your typical mature women. One fixes boat engines. Another is a tech guru. The main character, Beth, is a retired FBI agent, which puts her in a formidable league of her...