๐ ๐๐๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ฐ: “All Our Yesterdays” by Kerry Edwards is a captivating and deeply engaging read. Set in 1990s New York, it follows a twenty-three-year-old woman trying to find her footing in a new job, a new city, and a new country.
Living on a modest income in midtown Manhattan without family connections made life financially challenging. Her closest companion, a gay friend named Ali, encouraged her to embrace her true self. She also went on a date with a Frenchman named Giles, though she longed for the familiarity of native English speakers. Her boss, Susan, had a kind and intelligent husband, a beautiful home outside the city, and an art studio in Soho filled with her personal collectionโan image of the stability the narrator quietly aspired to.
This beautifully written book reminds us of the importance of letting go of the past at the right time. It encourages readers to free themselves from the weight of hidden memories and unspoken secrets. The narratorโs journey shows how the past can shapeโand sometimes hauntโour present. I truly enjoyed this book and found the title “All Our Yesterdays” perfectly fitting for its themes.
๐๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ: At Least I’m Trying ๐ ๐๐๐๐ต๐ผ๐ฟ: Tara Hodgson โ๏ธ . .
๐ ๐๐๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ฐ: “At Least I’m Trying” by Tara Hodgson is a gripping and emotionally charged read. The story centers around Reese, who has been passionate about volleyball since she was ten. Her best friend is Willow, and Gabe has been in love with her. But after a devastating mistake during a game, Reese not only loses her confidenceโshe also sees her dreams crumble before her eyes.
Among her teammates is Cassie, who, despite being more focused on sexting than sports, manages to stay on the team because of her personal connections. As the story progresses, Reese meets Liam, and from that moment, her life begins to change. I could deeply relate to Reese when she overlooked the warning signs in her relationship with him. The question lingersโwhat dangers await her next?
This is an engaging and relatable story for teenagers, adults, and parents alike. It highlights how easily someone can be influenced when their bond with their parents is strained. Tara Hodgsonโs book serves as an eye-opening reminder for parents to stay connected and aware of whatโs happening in their childrenโs lives.
๐๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ: The Night Girl ๐ ๐๐๐๐ต๐ผ๐ฟ: James Bow โ๏ธ . .
๐ ๐๐๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ฐ: The Night Girl by James Bow is a captivating read. The story follows Perpetua, who arrives in Toronto with just $500 in her pocket, determined to start a new life. On her first day in the city, she meets Fergus, a kind taxi driver who offers her a discounted (or even free) ride to help her get started.
Perpetua urgently needs to find a jobโotherwise, sheโll have to return to her overbearing mother. Luckily, Fergus points her toward a potential opportunity that seems perfectly suited to her skills. But when she goes for the interview, sheโs astonished to discover that her interviewer is a goblin and the position is far from ordinary. The agency sheโs applying to specializes in job placements for goblins and trolls. What will happen when the veil between worlds begins to lift?
This is a refreshing story that kept me hooked throughout. The title fits perfectly, and the cover design complements the tone of the book beautifully. The pacing is excellent, and Perpetuaโs character is thoughtfully developed. I especially enjoyed reading Fergusโs journal entriesโthey added warmth and depth to the narrative.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend The Night Girl to fellow readers.
๐ ๐๐๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ฐ: Citizen’s Awakening, written by Canyon Holgate, is the first installment in the Citizenโs Trilogy. The story centers around Kat Holt, an identical twin who is married to her best friend, Damon Holt. During a gender reveal party, Kat accidentally cuts her hand with a pair of scissorsโbut moments later, the wound mysteriously disappears, completely healed.
Kat later approaches Senator Rockford, seeking a waiver or some form of exemption from the mandatory genetic marker testing. She is adamant about not participating. However, the Senator insists the test is necessary, as officials are eager to understand how Kat is expecting triplets in a time when many women struggle with infertility.
As Kat hides her extraordinary ability to heal herself, the suspense buildsโwill anyone uncover her secret?
The storyline kept me on edge throughout, constantly wondering what would happen next. Itโs a gripping, fast-paced read that I couldnโt put down once I started. The authorโs world-building is vivid, and the pacing adds to the bookโs intensity. Overall, Citizenโs Awakening is an engaging and thoroughly enjoyable read.
๐๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ: Once A King, Now A Prince ๐ ๐๐๐๐ต๐ผ๐ฟ: Ira Blacker โ๏ธ . .
๐ ๐๐๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ฐ: Once A King, Now A Prince is a raw and powerful true story about family dysfunction, the mob, sex, drugs, and Rock โnโ Roll. It chronicles the life of the author, Ira, who endured and survived a deeply troubled childhood. From a young age, he suffered abuse from his father and emotional neglect, especially after his father brought his daughter from a previous marriage into their home.
Iraโs journey took a darker turn when he was admitted to the Psychiatric Ward at Kings County Hospital โ an experience so terrifying that it affected him physically. Yet, it was in that place that Ira began learning hard-earned lessons about survival. Later, on the recommendation of psychiatrists, he was sent to Hawthorne to escape his abusive home environment. After spending more than three years in isolation at Hawthorne Cedar Knolls, returning home felt like stepping back into a war zone.
This memoir is not just about trauma โ itโs about resilience, recovery, and growth. Iraโs story spans from his tumultuous youth to his later ventures in business and investment, offering readers insight into his remarkable transformation.
I binge-read this book; itโs an emotional rollercoaster and a testament to human endurance. I deeply admire the authorโs courage in sharing his story and his determination to rise above a painful past.
๐๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ: Welcome Home ๐ ๐๐๐๐ต๐ผ๐ฟ: Gina Romero โ๏ธ . .
๐ ๐๐๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ฐ: “Welcome Home: A Guide to Homemaking, From the Heart” by Gina Romero is a truly special read. This heartfelt guide offers practical and inspiring tips for creating a home filled with purpose, peace, and style.
Ginaโs insights on landscaping and gardening are particularly impressive, and her advice on home and physical organization is both useful and easy to follow. She beautifully explains the true essence of interior design and how to craft a space that reflects oneโs personal style.
I especially enjoyed her recipe for Mediterranean Orzo Pastaโit took me just 20 minutes to prepare, and my family absolutely loved it! The authorโs approach to homemaking has genuinely inspired me to keep my home more organized and thoughtfully designed.
I highly recommend this book to Christian women, as it offers valuable, faith-rooted guidance on homemaking. Gina has truly done a wonderful job with this book.
Q1. Hello, can you please introduce yourself? Readers would love to know more about you.
A1. I am Kerry, I came to my writing as a place of refuge from a career in fashion and a decade spent in New York as a designer. I wanted to be able to speak about all of my observations on the people I have met and the places I have experienced. I am a yoga instructor and these two activities support each other as my writing comes from a place of calm and stillness and this is hard to find without the yoga. I have two wonderful grown up daughters and I live close to the sea in the South of England.
Q2. What were the key challenges you faced while writing your book “Voices through Time”?
A2. The key challenges are as with any writing project, how to keep the voice authentic and populate the story with enough detail to hold the readers attention. kerryedwards.net
Q3. What books or authors have most influenced your own writing?
A3. I read as widely as possible but the writing of Elif Shafak is profound.
Q4. Whatโs your favourite spot to visit in your own country? And what makes it so special to you?
A4. I think anywhere in nature is nurturing for me but cities and beautiful libraries inspire me too. The libraries in Oxford are places of magic!
Q5. What inspired you to write the book ‘All our yesterdays’?
A5. All our yesterdays is an episodic fictionalised memoir of my life as a single young woman living in NYC in 1990s. It is the memories of the love, laughter, anxiety and personal growth that I experienced in those ten years of my life.
Q6. How long did it take you to write your book ‘Voices through Time’?
A6. Voices through Time took me a year to write.
Q7. On what platforms can readers buy your books?
A7. I sell my novels on Amazon.
Q8. Tell us about the process of coming up with the book cover and the title ‘All our yesterdays’?
A8. The cover for All our Yesterdays was made for me by a friend. I think she found a photograph that does look like the younger me and the mood of the photograph captures the mood of the novel so well.
Q9. When writing a book how do you keep things fresh, for both your readers and also yourself.
A9. Keeping writing fresh relies on reading all around the subject and widely so that you hear many voices. I also push myself to think about style and structure and this requires writing exercises.
Q10. What is the most valuable piece of advice youโve been given about writing?
A10. The most important advise is from Stephen King who said it is a myth to imagine that authors know what they will and are writing about, you just need a daily habit of writing and a clear space and dedication.
๐๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ: I Thought the Shame Would Kill Me: But Grace Set Me Free ๐๐๐๐ต๐ผ๐ฟ: Rev. Dr. Tarasa B. Lovick โ๏ธ . .
๐ ๐๐๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ฐ: I Thought the Shame Would Kill Me: But Grace Set Me Free by Rev. Dr. Tarasa B. Lovick is a poetry memoir that traces the authorโs powerful journey of transformationโfrom being crushed under the weight of shame to discovering the liberating power of grace. She also reflects on her divine calling to travel to India, a pull from deep within that guided her toward something greater than herself.
Through her poetry, the author beautifully shares the experience of encountering divine love. This collection serves as a map for healing, remembrance, and love.
One standout poem, But Now โI Amโ Found, captures the clarity that comes from aligning with Godโs will. In it, the author writes of moving beyond doubt and loneliness, finding herself at home in sacred light.
This memoir encourages readers to turn inward, peel back layers of pain, conditioning, and fear, and rediscover the authentic self rooted in love. The photographs of India included in the book add depth and connection to her journey, making the reading experience even more intimate and meaningful. Poetry and memoir lovers would have a great time reading this book.
Q1. Hello, can you please introduce yourself? Readers would love to know more about you.
A1. I am the author of SAVING PHOEBE MURROW and STRANGE SHAPE OF LOVE; both fall into the category of suspenseful womenโs fiction and deal with the dark side of social media. My short stories and memoir have been published in anthologies and literary journals. My short and long fiction has received assorted awards, and Iโm also the founder of Chrysalis Editorial, where Iโve worked with hundreds of writers. As a writing coach and editor, I have helped dozens of writers get their books published. I have also ghostwritten three peopleโs memoirs.
I was born in Yugoslavia, lived in Germany, then moved to the US at age seven. I was an adventurous child, exploring my world on bike and on foot, and grew up to be an adventurous traveler and have continued on that path to discover the various people and cultures of our planet. I recently went snorkeling in Palau, an island nation in the Pacific north of Australia. What an unbelievable world lives just under the surface of the ocean! I’ve traveled widely in South America and Europe. Iโve been on safari in Africa, an adventure hike in Patagonia, numerous river cruises, and still have a long list of places to visit. India, the Galapagos, and Egypt top my list. Before my writing and editing career, I co-founded Safe Kids Worldwide, an organization dedicated to the prevention of unintentional injuries to children.
Q2. What were the key challenges you faced while writing your book “Strange Shape of Love”?
A2. I struggled for a bit about where to set the story and the age and career of my protagonist, Charlotte Cooper. Initially, I set the story in multiple places — the US, Istanbul, an archaeological site on the border of Turkey and Syria, London, even Nicaragua. Charlotte was in her mid-forties and a human rights activist. Some feedback from one of my publishers prompted me to rethink this. Eventually, after a couple of drafts, I ended up with a younger Charlotte, age 30, and the story mostly takes place in London, and briefly in New York. Now, I feel itโs set exactly where it ought to be, and I admire Strange Shape of Love’s protagonist.
Q3. What books or authors have most influenced your own writing?
A3. Iโm an avid, even voracious, reader. I wouldnโt exactly say that specific authors have influenced my writing, but Iโm a careful reader and learn from all of them, even the bad ones. I enjoy everything from literary fiction to thrillers, to memoir and some non-fiction. Ishiguro is one of my favorite authors, also love Emily St. John Mandel. On the non-fiction front, Iโm a fan of Ronan Farrow and Michael Finley, and admire Natasha Tretheweyโs memoir. In terms of authors who write fiction similar to mine, Iโd include Kimberly McCreight, Liane Moriarity, Jodi Picoult, Paula Hawkins, and several others, whose novels I enjoy. In a sense, every author has influenced me. Even the author of the original Nancy Drew series, which I devoured as a child, and Victoria Holt novels, that I loved as a teen.
Q4. Whatโs your favourite spot to visit in your own country? And what makes it so special to you?
A4. I donโt have a single favorite spot, but I do love nature, and the Naples Botanical Garden is a โhappy place,โ as is Big Sur in California.
Q5. What inspired you to write the book ‘Strange Shape of Love’?
A5. I was shocked to learn that some people post or threaten to post nude photos of someone they once loved on social media/the internetโฆthis is now referred to as revenge porn. Itโs a way of getting revenge, of regaining control of the narrative of your relationship. Itโs really another form of cyberbullying and sexual harassment. Two things triggered my desire to write about this. One: an incident I read about in which a couple of guys hacked into female celebrityโs phones, stole their nude photos and posted them online. This was such an invasion of privacy that I wanted to write about it. Related to this was a book written by Ronan FarrowโCatch and Kill, which is about sexual harassment in the workplace, especially in the media and Hollywood. I explore these elements and bring them into the story of Strange Shape of Love. I also wanted to incorporate a love story in this novel, and also the various ways people โloveโโhence, strange shapes love takes!
Q6. How long did it take you to write your book ‘Strange Shape of Love’?
A6. Honestly, too long. I wrote a couple of other versions of this novel before landing on the final story, which took me a couple of years to complete.
Q7. On what platforms can readers buy your books?
A7. It is available on Kindle and other e-readers. Of course, the print book is also available at Amazon, Bookshop.org, Walmart, and Barnes and Noble.
Q8. Tell us about the process of coming up with the book cover and the title ‘Strange Shape of Love’?
A8. The title came to me quite a few years ago. Originally, I titled the book Her Other Life, but then out of thin air, Love Takes Strange Shapes came to me and then over time I preferred Strange Shape of Love and it stuck. Jason Henderson, my publisher at Castle Bridge Media (CBM), liked it too. In Churl Yo, his partner at CBM, designed the cover. They sent it to me, asking what I thought. I loved it right away and gave it a thumbs up. Iโm not sure what In Churlโs process was, but I think he nailed it!!
Q9. When writing a book how do you keep things fresh, for both your readers and also yourself.
A9. I follow the protagonistโs journey without projecting too much of my own ideas onto him or her. In suspense fiction, surprising things happen. Otherwise the story can become boring and predictable. Bad guys/evil characters emerge. I was pretty surprised by how some aspects of the plot twisted and turned. And that a psychopathic character showed up on the page.
Q10. What is the most valuable piece of advice youโve been given about writing?
A10.You really have to make space in your mind and in the course of your day for your writing. It wonโt happen otherwise. Obviously. I do a fair amount of pre-writingโฆsome scenes, some dialogue, some character profiles before I begin writing the novel. This was true for both Saving Phoebe Murrow and Strange Shape of Love.
Q1. Hello, can you please introduce yourself? Readers would love to know more about you.
A1. My name is Gina Romero and I’m an author, podcaster, speaker, and workshop host. I’m also a working professional, wife, mother, along with many other roles. Over the last several years I have found increased joy and peace in homemaking and have precious pearls of wisdom and experiences, tips, and guidance that I’ve now started to share with other hardworking, faith-filled mamas.
Q2. What were the key challenges you faced while writing your book “Welcome Home”?
A2. Timing was not my friend. I would say that timing was against me at just about every turn. Getting everything done on time for a fall launch was a wild ride, I worked day and night to make my deadline, but I also know that God’s timing is not our timing and I’m just trying to be faithful, not famous.
Q3. What books or authors have most influenced your own writing?
A3. I’ve always been an avid reader. I’d say I’m more of a fan of books than specific writers, per se. But to answer the question, I love anything that Victoria Magazine does, and Martha Stewart’s books. I also love faith-based books written for Christian women like The Power of a Praying Wife, Risen Motherhood, and Dear Food by my good friend Julia Fikse.
Q4. Whatโs your favorite spot to visit in the States? And what makes it so special to you?
A4. Probably Cambria, or Solvang, along the West Coast. Cambria holds special meaning for me because I first went on a road trip there in my early twenties with my mom, and then less than 10 years later I returned and that’s where my husband proposed to me before my 30th birthday. Anything up the California coast is incredibly beautiful, and accessible due to where I live.
Q5. What inspired you to write the book ‘Welcome Home- A Guide to Homemaking, From the Heart’?
A5. Believers will know what I mean when I say that God gave me the inspiration to write Welcome Home and as I wrote and created, I realized that this is actually a budding ministry- to help demonstrate to hardworking, busy, and tired mamas that homemaking doesn’t have to be a chore, it can be a beautiful, elevated way to live and serve your family, and practice hospitality which is talked a lot about in the Bible. We’re working on our journey as the Proverbs 31 Women.
Q6. How long did it take you to write your book ‘Welcome Home’?
A6. Not long at all. It just poured out of me. One Sunday in early May I was leaving church with my family and God just put this on my heart and inspired me in a very palpable way. The writing for the book was actually very easy for me, I just let all my thoughts pour out, and even though I was exhausted, I did find creative energy from the undertaking. It was truly a labor of love.
Q7. On what platforms can readers buy your books?
A7. Everywhere books are sold! amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, thriftbooks.com, abebooks.com. Just google Welcome Home- A Guide to Homemaking, From the Heart and you’ll see if being sold around the world. We just launched and already my book is being sold in the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan.
Q8. Tell us about the process of coming up with the book cover and the title ‘Welcome Home’?
A8. Again, it was God. I immediately knew what to call it, who to dedicate it to and what to write about, it was just a matter of finding the time to put pen to paper so to speak.
Q9. When writing a book how do you keep things fresh, for both your readers and also yourself.
A9. Social media helps out a lot with this. I am very blessed to have excellent marketing consultants on my team, because what is a great story if no one knows about it? So I’m letting my light shine and sharing encouragement, practical tips, scripture, recipe spotlights, helpful ideas, personal stories, and soon I’ll be featuring a Welcome Home Wonders cadence, where we talk about specific topics moms deal with like establishing traditions for our families, getting it all done, time management, and even crafting! I’m doing this all through Instagram mainly (@welcomehomebygina). Next up to be fully developed is Pinterest and Facebook, as these platforms are where my audience is. I also have an email newsletter that goes out monthly via Substack.
Q10. What is the most valuable piece of advice youโve been given about writing?
A10. It’s counterintuitive, but the best advice I’ve been given about writing is that you could be the best writer and have the best book, but if no one knows you’re out there, your work won’t make a difference. So in short, this means that authors also need to learn to market their work and become skilled at social media and public speaking. I’m a professional public speaker already so that has been easy for me, but my learning curve has come from creating a social media audience and platform. It’s been fun so far though, and definitely a blessing!
Sassy Reviews 