Simon & Schuster – A Girl Named Tommi

THE MARSH QUEEN – Virginia Hartman

Virginia Hartman’s debut The Marsh Queen (Gallery Books 2022) had the potential to be as stunning as its cover. A bird artist from the Smithsonian returns to the marshes of Florida to face the ghost of her father, the mental decline of her mother, and a mystery that has sullied the town for years; itContinue reading “THE MARSH QUEEN – Virginia Hartman”

BLOODMARKED – Tracy Deonn

“That dragons are fiercely loyal, and never forget what was taken from us. That eventually, we decide to protect what is ours… and burn the rest.” The second installment of a series tends to be the biggest let down. Not so for the highly anticipated second novel in Tracy Deonn’s The Legendborn Cycle. Bloodmarked (SimonContinue reading “BLOODMARKED – Tracy Deonn”

INFINITE COUNTRY – Patricia Engel

Patricia Engel’s Infinite Country (Avid Read Press, 2021) is a brief but bittersweet snapshot into the lives of a mixed-status Columbian family divided by borders. While the novel is well-written and a very important read, it was a disappointing display of missed opportunities for this reader. As some of you know, I was an immigrationContinue reading “INFINITE COUNTRY – Patricia Engel”

THE LOST QUEEN – Signe Pike

Signe Pike’s The Lost Queen (Touchstone 2018) is the first in a trilogy following Languoreth, twin of the man who’d inspire the legends of Merlin and forgotten queen of sixth-century Scotland. The first of series opens when she is 10, just after the death of her mother and ends when she’s 32 and standing deadContinue reading “THE LOST QUEEN – Signe Pike”

THE BOOK CHARMER – Karen Hawkins

Practical Magic meets Hart of Dixie but set in North Carolina? Don’t mind if I do. Karen Hawkins’s The Book Charmer (Gallery Books 2019) is a charmer of a candy read. It’s a sweet, slow burn set in a magical, lazy southern town in NC. The first of the Dove Pond series, The Book CharmerContinue reading “THE BOOK CHARMER – Karen Hawkins”

LEGENDBORN – Tracy Deonn

Before I get into my review of Tracy Deonn’s Legendborn (Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2020), I want to recognize that it may be biased and cloaked in an unexpected connection. I was 17 when my father was killed. My acceptance to UNC arrived just under two months later. That August, when I moved into myContinue reading “LEGENDBORN – Tracy Deonn”