The All American

Author: Susie Finkbeiner

Publisher: Revell

Release Date: July 11, 2023

This is likely the best book that I will read all year! Another masterpiece done by Finkbeiner.

The two things that Bertha Harding loves most are her family and baseball. In 1952, most sixteen-year-old girls are thinking about who they are going to marry and how to be a proper wife, but all Bertha can think about is getting to play baseball. Ever since her first game to the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, she fell in love with the Workington Sweet Peas. She knows she would probably never make it to the league, but she can dream. But when her author father is accused of being a communist, everything she knows comes crashing down around her. Family friends now shun them and refuse to do business with them. People send her father threats. After more than her mother can take, they move out to a small town in northern Michigan where her uncles lives to get a fresh start. Little does Bertha know that not only did her uncle play baseball at Michigan State, but he also played with the manager of the Sweet Peas. Before she knows it, Bertha has a tryout with the team that will lead to adventures she never expected.

Every time I pick up a new Susie Finkbeiner book, I always think that this can’t be better than the last book she wrote. And every time she pretty much proves me wrong. This is quite possibly her best book (and I’ve read them all multiple times). It is also likely the best book that I have read all year. It is so easy to picture her books in my mind almost like I’m in a movie, but at the same time make me fully relate to her main character. On top of that, she pulled in memories from watching A League of Their Own with references to the movie characters to boot. She manages to write stories that have real meaning that readers will want to read over and over again. No specific genre, no specific formula, just great writing that connects people.

I highly recommend this book to all readers!

I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.

No More Secrets

Author: Kerry Lonsdal

Series: No More #3

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing

Release Date: March 14, 2023

Easily the best book of the trilogy! Lucas’s story is what Lonsdale fans have been waiting for!

Lucas Carson never wanted his life to turn out the way it did. He couldn’t seem to get affection from his father, so he tried acting out to get his attention. One of these occasions goes wrong and he winds up serving a six-month stint in a juvenile detention center that add far more scars than he came in with. Traumatized by his experience, he shuts everyone else out of his life, even his sixteen-year-old pregnant sister Lily who is thrown out of their house.

Years later while living life in nowhere, he stumbles across a young runaway named Shiloh. Lucas can’t help but see Lily when he looks at her and decides to help her to make amends for his past. He can’t risk a run in with the law because of some other acts he has done, but he feels he must help her out.

I have loved each book in this series, but this one really takes the cake. I fell in love with Lucas’s story. In the first two books, he is so standoffish that you can’t really take him seriously as a character, but now readers get to see his true self. This is a story of redemption and love, though not romantic. I love how everything tied up at the end, especially with their mother, and hope that there is a future story where readers can find out more about the characters lives as they live them out.

There is quite a bit of language as well as some sex scenes throughout. I recommended this book for mature readers. It could be read as a standalone, but I highly recommend reading the previous two books in the series first!

This is Where it Ends

Author: Cindy K. Sproles

Publisher: Revell

Release Date: June 27, 2023

If you are looking for a nice, clean story with a satisfying ending this is the perfect book.

At just fourteen years of age, Minerva Jane Jenkins married a man and was quickly moved away to the mountains. Their meager possessions consist of a box he tells her is full of gold. When he dies, she is sworn to secrecy, which she keeps for decades. Living her life alone in the mountains helps her to grow strong and deal with whatever comes her way. One day a reporter shows up looking for a story about hidden gold and secrets that may turn out to be more dangerous than expected.

This is Where it Ends starts slow and builds with a mystery and deep character development that brought a smile to my face. Minerva is a different kind of main character, she had to grow up so early in her life and things were hard for her living in the mountains. Even through the hardships she showed a strong character no matter what life throws at her. Reading this novel was quick and easy that readers with a passion for this genre will enjoy, but if it’s not a genre you enjoy it won’t be for you.

I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.

In the Shadow of the River

Author: Ann H. Gabhart

Publisher: Revell

Release Date: May 9, 2023

A story about love, family and playing the right part even when we don’t want to perform.

At five years old Jacci Reed was almost kidnapped and when her mom saves her, she ends up wounded and takes Jacci to a showboat to heal. This is where Jacci gets her first taste of life with a showboat family. Fast-forward fifteen years and Jacci is an actress aboard the Kingston Floating Palace and loves her life with her family of actors, singers, and dancers. It’s been years since Jacci’s mother died and now she looks to the showboat owners’ son to help her find answers to her past and be able to move on with her future.

Ann Gabhart writes historical romance with a great message and will pull readers in with characters and a fun storyline. Her stories are always filled with a romance that is swoon worthy that makes for a very fast read. I thought the beginning of the story read faster than the middle, this part of the story wasn’t as full of tension and dragged a good bit. The end tied things up nicely, making the story come to a satisfying conclusion. These stories are nice for a quick weekend read that make it where you don’t have to think about much for the story, just escape into the past with a historical fiction read. I recommend this book to readers that enjoy historical fiction and have read other Gabhart novels.

I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.

The Laws of Attraction

Author: Mary Connealy

Series: Wyoming Sunrise #2

Publisher: Bethany House

Release Date: June 20, 2023

A great story with vivid details that readers will find enticing and enriching!

Nell Armstrong and Brand Nolte are thrown together through a series of unfortunate events. Brand is a widower and has three girls that he is struggling to raise on his own and Nell is a seamstress that is tired of making chaps for cowboys in her tiny Wyoming town. Nell’s first husband was a lawman and the skills he had rubbed off on her as she and Brand must investigate a robbery of a stagecoach when the survivor ends up at their little town. The mystery deepens as they try to figure out who the bad guy is before anyone else gets hurt.

This second book in the Wyoming Sunrise series is more captivating than the first with a rich array of scenery and characters. I loved the way Nell is portrayed as a strong female character even in this historical romance where female characters are not typically portrayed. The way Nell and Brand are brought together is normal for a novel of this genre, but it didn’t bore readers the way some historical fiction books can. With the way this story held my attention, I can’t wait to see what the next in the series brings.

I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.

A great story with vivid details that readers will find enticing and enriching!

I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.

Rocky Mountain Rendezvous

Author: Misty M. Beller

Series: Sisters of the Rockies #1

Publisher: Revell

Release Date: June 6, 2023

A sweet romance set in the beautiful backdrop of the Rocky Mountains makes for a compelling read.

Juniper Collins and her sister are trying to fulfill the last wish of their father as he passed away and they travel to return a set of beads to a Plegan Blackfoot woman. The girls encounter trouble along the way and must work together to achieve their goal. Riley Turner came West to find a quiet life and is doing that until he encounters the sisters and is compelled to help make sure they stay safe. A task that turns out to be harder than he expected as they encounter danger with every step they take.

Rocky Mountain Rendezvous is the first in a new series that looks to be another easy quick read. The setting is beautiful and makes the story what it is. I see the characters being set up for a series with each sister getting their own book and love interest. For me, this was a typical Historical Romance with characters that play out the scenes just as I would expect from them in this genre. Anyone that is a fan of historical romance will enjoy this read.

I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.

Her Only Wish

Author: Shelley Shepard Gray

Series: A Season in Pinecraft #2

Publisher: Revell

Release Date: June 6, 2023

A clean romance that fans of Amish fiction will not want to miss.

Betsy Detweller wants more from life than what she has been getting from living in Kentucky. Most people have a bucket list, but Betsy has created a life list that leads her to Pinecraft Florida where she meets August Troyer. August is a golf instructor at Snow Bird Golf Course and is immediately taken at the sight of Betsy. They start to enjoy each other’s company more and more and don’t want to set things aside and play it safe, sometimes the best things in life are worth fighting for.

Her Only Wish is a quick, clean Amish fiction read that is rare in this day and age. So many novels, even ones that are supposed to be considered clean, have some hidden agenda trying to sneak its way in. A good, clean book is hard to find and I’m happy to say this one will be good to recommend in that way. This is just a great story for people who love to read. I would recommend this to fans of Amish fiction and those that have read the first in this series.

I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.

Katt vs. Dogg

Authors: James Patterson & Chris Grabenstein

Publisher: Jimmy Patterson

Release Date: November, 2, 2021

This was a very different, but fun book for young readers. Another winner by James Patterson for young readers.

Oscar is a rambunctious kid who is also a dogg. He loves being a dogg and everything that entails. His family has taught him that doggs are the best and katts are no good. When Oscar and his family go on a trip and end up at the same resort as Molly, a Katt and her family who hate doggs, things get a little hairy. When Oscar and Molly end up lost in the woods together, they must decide if what they have always been told about hating each other is right or if they should work together to find a way home.

James Patterson has become a major player in the young reader category. He is an author that can churn out books like no other. This series is a fun and very different one where the story goes to the dogs, and cats. Set for 8 to 12-year-olds this is a perfectly written story that will have these young readers engaged and happy to pick up a book and escape into the world of fiction. There is nothing too much or anything for this age reader and I can happily recommend this to my youngest son to read and enjoy.

Middle School: My Brother is a Big, Fat Liar

Authors: James Patterson & Lisa Papademetriou

Series: Middle School #3

Publisher: Jimmy Patterson

Release Date: June 23, 2014

Another fun fast read by Patterson perfect for middle school readers.

Georgia Khatchadorian is getting her chance at middle school. Her brother, Rafe, left a reputation as a troublemaker and now everyone expects Georgia to be the same kind of trouble as her brother. She isn’t given a chance by most of the teachers to prove that she is a good student and only wants to do her best. The popular girls at school instantly dislike her and to top it all off, she has made a bet with her brother that she will become one of the most popular girls at school.

This book is the third in the series, but the first from the point of view of Georgia and it is fun, refreshing and a good change for the series. Georgia finds herself dealing with the struggles of middle school in a similar way as her brother but for different reasons. She doesn’t come into the year wanting to break the rules like he did; she is a rule follower but the teachers and faculty at the school assume she is like her brother and think the worst of her from the beginning. This is a good example of showing that everyone is different and even in families we shouldn’t judge one child based on what we know of another one. I really enjoyed the way it was set up showing her struggle and try to overcome the way she was looked at just because she was Rafe’s sister. Children reading will be able to relate to a lot of moments in these books and hopefully gain some good ways to deal with problems they might face. I recommend this book to readers that enjoy the series and are fans of Patterson’s children’s books.

Timmy Failure: Zero to Hero

Author: Stephan Pastis

Series: Timmy Failure #0

Publisher: Disney Hyperion

Release Date: April 6, 2021

A fun, silly book that children will enjoy reading, which is the biggest win to get kids reading.

Timmy Failure has a great imagination and uses it to create a detective agency and solve the crimes in his town. He uses his detective skills to find out who stole his favorite shirt and from there he solves all crimes he comes across. Timmy is so famous there are multiple books about his life and even a movie! Now, Timmy gives us an inside look at to how he became the greatest detective in the world.

I read this book after my son started enjoying them to see what he was reading and be able to talk about it with him. With all that is out in the world, it is important to read and be involved in all our kids’ encounters. This book is silly, somewhat stupid at times but doesn’t have any of the “agenda” so many try to put in shows and books. I was happy reading this and finding out that it was an okay series for my kids to read. I was able to read it in a single day and can talk to him about the characters and storyline. On Amazon this is a “Teacher’s pick,” I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it as the best pick for kids for the reason that it is a bit stupid and annoying but the fact that it doesn’t have any of the other things, I would consider inappropriate makes it worth the read. This is a good book for young readers to pick up and just enjoy reading.