The Crushing

Olivia Callahan Suspense, #4

by

Kerry Peresta

Suspenseful tale of revenge and love gone wrong!

The Crushing is the fourth book in author Kerry Peresta’s compelling Olivia Callahan Suspense series and proves to be a suspense-filled tale of revenge and regretted former lovers. With an engaging main character, a supportive group of women friends all suffering the consequences of ill-chosen former husbands, and an intense storyline, I didn’t want to put this book down. 

The main character and the owner of her own private investigations firm, Olivia Callahan is still recuperating from an assault that left her with a traumatic brain injury years earlier but is forging ahead with her new career and patchy memories of her former life. However, she and the rest of her close-knit Wine, Whine, and Win women’s group become worried when one of their friends, Hannah, seems to drop off the face of the Earth soon after she marries and moves to a small town in Florida. Finally, they decide to have Sherry, with her newly granted PI’s license, check on her in person, and what she discovers is chilling. The exciting prologue foretells the extreme circumstances Sherry encounters in her rescue of Hannah from her abusive spouse. The psychological and physical abuse she had undergone in the previous two years was unimaginable, and Patrick’s relentless pursuit of his fleeing wife kept me on the edge of my seat, waiting for him to pop up again.

In the meantime, a new client with ties to both Olivia’s incarcerated ex-husband and Callie’s former spouse shows up looking to hire her firm for some surveillance work on his wife, who he suspects is having an affair. It, too, turns out to be much more complex. 

Hunter Faraday, now a sergeant with Richmond Police Department, returns, still hurting from Olivia’s rejection a year earlier and his more recent breakup with Detective Shiloh McPherson. He’s remained in contact with Olivia’s family but steers clear of contacting her until she reaches out for information he can obtain on her current case. To complicate his life and emotions, Shiloh also re-enters his life, needing his department’s cooperation on a case to Richmond that she’s been working undercover for several months. Naturally, he’s highly conflicted over his feelings for both women. 

Even though this is the fourth book in the series, new readers should be able to quickly pick up enough backstory to read and enjoy this story as a standalone. With twists around every corner, the suspenseful involvement of the ex-husbands, and its emotion-fraught relationships, I recommend THE CRUSHING to readers of suspense. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from the author through Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours.

A Room for Murder

Charlie Kingsley, #5

by

Michele Pariza Wacek

Ghostly drama is going down at the Redemption Inn!

A Room for Murder is a novella in the Charlie Kingsley series by author Michele Pariza Wacek, and reading it is an excellent way to become acquainted with the main character and town of Redemption, Wisconsin, and enjoy an intriguing ghost story. Charlie Kingsley is drawn into a ghostly drama by Nancy, her friend and the owner of the historic and haunted Redemption Inn, where she meets the Redemption’s handsome, aggravating, and recently hired police officer. 

Charlie is a friendly and helpful woman who operates a small home business crafting specialty herbal tea blends. She first learns of the Redemption Inn’s ghost, Darla, from a pair of tourists she encounters at Quoth the Raven, the local new and used bookstore. Intrigued, she heads to the Inn to ask the owner, her friend Nancy, about the ghost but inadvertently stumbles into a scene of turmoil with a guest loudly complaining that Darla tried to kill her husband. 

The town of Redemption has a peculiar reputation and odd history, so everyone is quite willing to accept the presence of a ghost as fact. But as these types of things go, something just doesn’t feel right, and before you know it, one of the guests falls victim to the supposedly deadly specter. 

The author’s writing style is easy to read, and I was soon invested in the outcome of the story. The characters were engaging and easy to get to know, and the plot was compelling. Readers new to the series should have no trouble getting comfortable with the current tale without having read the earlier novels. 

I recommend A ROOM FOR MURDER to cozy mystery readers and fans of the previous books in the series. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from the author through Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours.

What I Must Tell the World:

How Lorraine Hansberry Found Her Voice

by

Jay Leslie

illustrated by Loveis Wise

Well done and thoughtful biography for upper middle-grade and older readers about playwright Lorraine Hansberry, the groundbreaking Black female playwright.

What I Must Tell the World: How Lorraine Hansberry Found Her Voice, words by Jay Leslie and pictures by Loveis Wise is a well-done and thoughtful introduction for upper middle-grade and older readers to the life of renowned playwright Lorraine Hansberry. The evocatively illustrated text presents the highlights of the first Black woman to have a show produced on Broadway (A Raisin in the Sun). 

Starting with her surprising childhood as the daughter of a man who had to go to the Supreme Court of the land (and won!) to establish his right to purchase a home in the white Woodlawn area of Chicago and her preparation and journey in pursuing her dream of crafting a play representing the Black experience in America. There is a short, forthright discussion of her gradual awareness of her true sexual orientation, offering parents an opportunity to discuss and answer questions with their young readers. While this little book examines her life, it naturally brings up many important social issues that can also offer additional topics of one-on-one or group discussions with readers. Hansberry experienced the gamut of discrimination in her short life: for being Black, for being a woman in a traditionally male profession, and for being attracted to another woman rather than a man. 

I recommend WHAT I MUST TELL THE WORLD: HOW LORRAINE HANSBERRY FOUND HER VOICE to young readers who want a look into the life of this fascinating woman. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy via Netgalley.

For this and other book reviews, go to Boys' Mom Reads!

The Sky Is Not Blue

by

Joy Jones

illustrated by Sanger Cloud

A wonderful children’s picture book that combines science and taking the time to see the world around us.

The Sky Is Not Blue is a delightful new children’s picture book about Robert, an adorable child who draws the world, specifically the changing aspect of the sky, as he sees it rather than relegating it to an indiscriminate blue background. I think I fell in love with this fictional child the first time he appeared on the page for his infectious joy and inspirational enthusiasm for life and the beauty he saw around himself. His consistent connection to the real look of his world eventually affects his teacher as well. 

I would have loved to have had this book in our library to share with my children when they were Robert’s age. Besides the storyline of observation and conscious intent, the book includes small bite-sized and child-friendly facts and the basic science behind why the sky is seen as blue and other colors. I was glad to watch Robert remain steadfast in drawing what he actually saw rather than succumbing to the cliché of always having a swath of blue at the top of his drawings.

 I recommend THE SKY IS NOT BLUE to those with young readers or listeners, especially ones with an affinity for drawing and coloring. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy via Netgalley.

See this and other reviews at Boys' Mom Reads!

Lonely Places

by

Kate Anderson

An atmospheric setting, creepy plot, and guilt combine for a satisfying young adult tale of psychological terror.

Lonely Places is a new young adult psychological horror story by author Kate Anderson, and its rich, evocative setting will have readers jumping in their seats at every unidentified noise. The young protagonist is realistically portrayed, and many readers will easily relate to her and her feelings, effectively edging up the engagement in this absorbing tale. 

Chase Woolf is the older sister and narrator of the story. Soon to turn 18, she’s desperately unhappy with her father’s choice of the family’s vagabond lifestyle. She longs for a stable, traditional home, specifically the one from her childhood memories in Boone, North Carolina, where they lived down the street from her paternal grandparents until their deaths. Instead, her father has committed the family to living at remote fire lookout station for a year. Her goal is to make enough money over the summer and upcoming school year to escape her current life, as well as the guilt she bears for leaving her much younger sister, Gus, behind in the woods at her family’s campsite six months earlier and the young girl’s resulting trauma. Lost for hours, when the family finally found Gus, she was tear-streaked and terrified and hadn’t spoken a word since, except to mumble to herself and now the trees that surround the fire lookout station their father has brought them to for the coming year. 

The setting in remote Utah in the middle of the Pando Aspen Grove, a real location, is vivid and creepy and plays a main role in the unfolding tale. The slow reveal of past issues at the fire lookout station are eerie twists that serve to intensify the growing suspense as Chase watches her younger sister start to change for the worse. As a parent, I wanted to shake the girls’ parents; both of these girls needed more help than a change of scenery or just ignoring it could provide. In addition to the unique and compelling mysteries of what was going on at Pando, there is the start of a normal romance for Chase at the nearby summer camp. 

The author’s easy-to-read writing style, evocative setting, vulnerable protagonists, and slowly simmering suspense of the story kept me interested and invested from start to finish. I recommend LONELY PLACES to readers of young adult psychological horror and thrillers. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy through TBR and Beyond Book Tours.