The House No One Sees

by

Adina King

Gutting!

The House No One Sees by Adina King is an eye-opening, gutting revelation of the impact of a mother’s opioid addiction on her young daughter and parents and the community’s response (or lack thereof) to the child’s obvious need for help. The author combines prose and verse to tell the devastating story, which further heightens its impact on the reader. This was one of those stories where you can feel the outcome well before the tale’s end, but, like a trainwreck, you can’t look away nor put the book down. 

On her 16^th birthday, Penelope “Penny” Ross is beckoned to her childhood home by desperate and ominous text messages from her estranged mother. When she steps across the threshold, the memories of her traumatic life flood her mind and emotions, crippling her with the weight beneath the chaos as she slowly advances through its rooms in search of her mother. 

The circumstances of Penny’s past are heartbreaking, stark, and all too real, especially if the reader experienced a similar situation growing up. Penny was emotionally torn apart repeatedly as her family cycled through her mother’s drug use, rehab, premature release, and uneasy reunions, only for her mother to succumb to her addiction over and over again. All the while, Penny is obviously struggling, bullied by fellow students, and leaned on by some school administrators to get her act together and follow the rules and be like everyone else, concepts she’s completely ignorant of and ill-equipped to attain on her own. Her grandparents also struggle to help their daughter and try to keep their granddaughter safe as they work through the sluggish government processes and health systems. Time and again, as her mother relapses, Penny is subjected to neglect, abuse, and danger, at the mercy of the rollercoaster of addiction.

 I recommend THE HOUSE NO ONE SEES to young adult fiction readers. 

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

Essence of Foul Play

Aroma Wellness Mystery, #1

by

Daryl Wood Gerber

An excellent debut for what promises to be a charming, fun, and magical new cozy mystery series.

Essence of Foul Play is the first book in veteran author Daryl Wood Gerber’s charming, fun, and magical new Aroma Wellness Mystery series and introduces readers to the quirky but often contentious residents of Carmel while solving a puzzling and ugly murder. Emma Brennan opens her new spa with its intriguing lineup of alternative self-care treatments in her hometown. Still, she encounters some surprising resistance to her business model, especially from her own mother and her college friend, Willow Shafer, a fellow spa owner who offers only traditional spa services. When Willow is found murdered the morning of Emma’s grand opening, Emma immediately becomes “a person of interest” in her death because a witness reported she saw Emma entering Willow’s business the night before. 

The main character, Emma Brennan, is not only a new spa owner but now an amateur sleuth as well in order to clear her name as a suspect in the death of her old friend. She continually keeps a tight rein on her emotions, uses calming techniques, and always tries to redirect her frustrations with others in a positive direction. In addition to the mystery, I really enjoyed reading about all the different methods she employed to stay grounded and in control, and the descriptions of the variety of services her spa offered were fascinating. I was ready to book an appointment myself. 

As the first book in a new series, the author must build an entire community of people who live there but do it in such a manner as not to overload the reader. Ms. Gerber does just this with a subtle and natural hand and even lends further assistance to the reader by providing a cast of characters at the front of the book. Readers familiar with the author’s Fairy Garden Mystery series, also set in Carmel, may recognize some cross-over characters who make an appearance. Emma’s world is full of quirky individuals and like-minded souls, such as her grandmother, town librarian, and fairy-friendly Lissa Reade. Yet, there are also quite a few cranky, rude, and downright mean-spirited folks among her acquaintances. One publicly proclaims to Emma’s face, “We hope your business goes poof.” I was shocked but also compelled to keep reading to see if that one would get her comeuppance! 

The plot moves quickly, first with all the preparations for the spa’s Grand Opening, and as the murder is discovered early in the story, the action and suspense never let up. With all the high emotions in Emma’s circle, there were plenty of possible murder suspects along the way to check off the list. But as the story progresses and the red herrings drop off, there is a satisfying final resolution. 

I recommend ESSENCE OF FOUL PLAY to cozy mystery readers, especially those who would enjoy a spa setting and cool, alternative self-care services.

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

The Smiling Dog Café: Healing Fiction

Volume 1

by

Neil S. Plakcy

Heartbreaking and heartwarming, healing and hopeful stories are all connected by a magical coffee shop and its canine caretakers.

The Smiling Dog Café: Healing Fiction, Volume 1 by Neil S. Plakcy, is a two-novella collection of what is known as “healing fiction,” a style of story of Japanese origin. As the stories unfold, not only do the characters undergo positive restorative change, but readers may also experience hope and satisfaction as well. 

In the first story, readers are introduced to Betty Martinez, the owner of The Smiling Dog Café, a magical coffee shop well off the beaten paths in Brooklyn, and as such, a recurring character for each of the stories. I loved the concept that while some of her customers just stumbled across the café, many are led there by following one of the unusual dogs memorialized by Betty’s deceased wife in paintings adorning the walls. Each of the customers brought there by the supernatural canines is hurting, damaged, or lost in some way, and Betty, a retired grief counselor, skillfully serves up hope and wisdom along with her special coffee. 

In “Code of Silence,” Jeff Hodges, the product of an abusive childhood home life because of his frustrated, alcoholic father, learned early on from his downtrodden mother that silence and invisibility are the safest routes through life. Jeff takes that lesson to heart, and despite his almost genius-level understanding of computing, computer science, and coding, he hides his abilities, choosing to be safe and secure over even a hint of risk and a fulfilling life. When his skills inadvertently put himself and his coworkers out of a job, he’s led through the side streets and alleys of Brooklyn to The Smiling Dog Café by a mysterious golden retriever. 

In “A Mother’s Heart,” Sophia Greenwood’s young daughter, Emma, ends up in the local hospital’s pediatric cardiac unit, suffering from the same congenital heart problem that she has and that killed her mother. Sophia is overcome with guilt, fear, and the belief that she isn’t up to the task of mothering her daughter under the same circumstances she endured as a child. Following a three-legged Irish Setter to The Smiling Dog Café, she discovers Betty and the help she needs to recognize her past has prepared her to be a strong, capable woman and mother. 

Both stories are told in mesmerizing dual timelines, detailing how the characters came to this point in their present lives. Jeff’s regrets and fears have hobbled him from living an authentic life, much like Sophia’s childhood medical restrictions could have denied her had it not been for the series of vastly different women who had a hand in her upbringing and care. The author’s writing style puts the reader in the characters’ lives and makes the intervention by the mysterious dogs seem natural while maintaining its magic. Two stories were absolutely not enough! 

I recommend THE SMILING DOG CAFÉ to readers of healing fiction and fantasy, especially those who enjoyed the BEFORE THE COFFEE GETS COLD series or similar works. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from Reedsy Discovery.

Stay, Girl

by

Anjelica R. Jackson

The heartwarming story of the healing power of love.

Stay, Girl is a wonderfully heartwarming story of 12-year-old Bet and a fostered beagle named Penny set in 1953 California’s Central Valley. While timeless and with universal elements, Bet and Penny’s story comes alive in this nostalgic setting of a simpler time and place. Their tale is one of two wounded creatures re-discovering kindness, love, and safety. I couldn’t put it down. 

Bet is a determined, capable 12-year-old, conditioned much too soon to depending on herself for her most basic needs. When her mother passes away, she takes off from her home in Sacramento and her abusive stepfather and makes her way, by foot, to her mother’s brother’s home in Amberfields, California, quite some distance away. Bet’s plan for escape had been to join a friend working in an Idaho lumber camp, but she’d promised her mother on her deathbed that she’d go to Uncle Earl’s, and she always kept her promises. 

We can only imagine what Bet expected Uncle Earl to be like, considering her experiences with the adults, especially men, in her brief life, but Earl is not that. A former Navy cook, now working at the small town’s diner, he’s a giving and gentle soul and the caretaker for the county for three rescued dogs. A recent addition to his home is a very sick red and white beagle that had been removed from a deplorable situation. Bet feels a kinship with the small, frightened dog she names Penny, and it becomes her goal to heal her and become Penny’s “person.” 

The plot covers the summer of 1953, and Bet and Penny’s slow but steady recovery as both become a part of their new home and new community, seeing a side of people they had been denied up to this point in their lives. The author’s vivid descriptions of the setting drew me in so completely I could almost feel the heat and hear the sounds of that long-ago summer, a time when telephones, television, and cars weren’t a part of every household yet. Bet’s story was compelling, with plot twists that changed its trajectory in unexpected ways and kept me glued to its pages. 

I recommend STAY, GIRL to readers of historical fiction, especially those who enjoy coming-of-age stories. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy through WOW! Women On Writing Book Tours.

Devious Web

by

Shelley Grandy

Intriguing, clever, and unputdownable!

Devious Web by Shelley Grandy is a riveting tale of betrayal and suspense. With its mesmerizing plot, clever execution, and a host of surprisingly unlikely suspects, I was glued to the book because I had to find out who could possibly be behind it all! 

Tom Oliver is the owner of the multimillion-dollar Toronto tech firm Pellucid, and he’s torn about the latest offer to buy his company, which he started from scratch. He’s honestly concerned about the impact such a sale would have on everyone involved in helping the business grow but feels like it’s probably the right thing to do and the right time to do it. He’s a genuinely nice guy who has put everything into building his company and knows his choices have hurt his marriage with Miriam, his wife of many years. 

Supporting characters are well developed and readers get the opportunity to know them well as their points of view also tell the story. I think I alternated having almost everyone at the top of my suspect list and knocking them off at some point during the book, and I still felt like it could have been any one of them up until the actual reveal. 

The plot is well-paced and oh-so-clever. I’m smiling as I write this because devious describes how well I was led all over the place. The suspense throughout was palpable. I was loathe to put the book down once I got into it and the great plot twists only made that more difficult! 

I recommend DEVIOUS WEB to readers of thrillers, suspense, and mystery, especially those who enjoy a story with a business or tech setting, set during COVID, or a Toronto location. 

Content warning: The storyline features negative portrayals of Fox News, Republicans, and then former President Donald Trump. 

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