Annie, Sondra and Jo grew up as best friends in a small, midwestern town.  Now, in middle age, they have grown apart.  They will soon be back together for their reunion.  Annie is a pastor's wife.  With four sons and constant church duties, Annie's life has quickly become overwhelming.  She has lost herself and come to rely on antidepressants until the day she takes one too many and collapses.  Sondra is married to a rich, older man in LA.   Sondra loves James, but they have not been intimate in a while.  Sondra is manipulated by someone who sees her weakness and is blackmailed. Jo is a recovering alcoholic who is contemplating divorce because of her own failings.  When Sondra and Jo hear of Annie's troubles, they race back into town and plan to steal her away on an epic camping adventure like they did when they were young.  Hoping to invigorate their souls and remind Annie of the good days, the fearsome threesome may solve more than they intended.  


Campfire Confessions is a heartwarming story of friendship and overcoming obstacles.  Each of the women has a unique, yet timeless story of believing that they are not enough for those around them.  Annie is overwhelmed, completely exhausted by her day to day life of giving herself away and becoming a martyr to what she believes her duties are all while her husband and kids continue to expect and ask more of her.  I'm surprised she didn't collapse sooner.  Sondra is a strong woman who is asking her husband for exactly what she wants and is still able to be manipulated by her own insecurities.  Jo is fighting her demons and still believes she is not good enough for her husband.  The camping trip was fun, comical and life changing.  I loved that they were able to work through some things within the safety and comfort of one another. These women's stories are a reminder that nobody is perfect, everybody needs help sometimes and communication is key in relationships.   While none of their problems were fully solved in the end, the women were able to tackle the mental load and embrace their issues in order to begin moving on.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

The town of Wattsville, NY along the Otis River is a relic of the industrial age, part of the rust belt.  The people of Wattsville are mostly stuck in dead-end jobs, poverty and drugs.  Carol is a single mom who works in the dining hall of the local college that her daughter, Garnet attends.  Garnet is dating Ethan, one of the town's wealthy residents.  When Garnet and Ethan get into a fight, Garnet is the victim of an unjust system and sent to prison with a two-year sentence.  With her daughter in prison, Carol leans on her friend Sam and new coworker Ronaldo.  When Garnet begins to get hassled in prison, Carol and Sam try to help Garnet and end up starting a chain of events that will affect the whole town.  

Just River snapshot of a small town in the 1990's.  The story flowed through the connected action of the characters with each chapter narrated by a switching point of view between Garnet, Carol and Sam.  The diverse range of characters shows a range of viewpoints, motivations and emotions as everyone deals with what life has dealt them.  Sam was an intriguing character as a gay man who dressed as a woman but did not identify as transgender.  It was interesting to see his motivations for staying in a small town and how he goes through everyday life.  Carol's outlook changes several times throughout the story as regret, depression and acceptance work their way through her life.  Garnet's point of view was fun to read as she figured out some important lessons in prison.  Just River offers a steady plot with a mix of comedy and tragedy that reflects the real world. 

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. 

Shawn wants nothing more than to find a woman to be his wife.  Shawn works as a programmer at Exclusiv, a dating app.  He goes on first date after first date, but his autism keeps him from forming a connection.  Shawn's grandma and brother help where they can, but Shawn is still dateless until a corporate party that Shawn's boss set up.   At the themed Pimp & Ho's party, Shawn meets Violet who he finds a connection with right away.  Shawn's social skills prevent him from seeing that Violet is an actual prostitute and he invites her on a date where things get weird.  Violet doesn't know what's going on with Shawn at first, but enjoys spending time with him .  Violet's pimp, however, doesn't approve of Violet and Shawn's progressing relationship.  Shawn's Grandmother and Brother see Violet for what she is as well and try to get Shawn to end the relationship.  Shawn and Violet's love will have to  overcome society's expectations for them.  
 



The Sound of Violet is a heartfelt and sweet romance.  Shawn and Violet are both well written and unique characters.  I had a good feel for Shawn right away as he talked about his dreams to get married and went on a series of awkward dates.  It was great to see Shawn portrayed as a regular person in society with a job and ambitions who just needed a little help with things.  Violet's story as a victim of human trafficking was distressing.  However, her ability to overcome, see the best in people and get the help she needed was inspiring.  When their relationship begins, Violet and Shawn see each other as a solution to their problems, Shawn will have someone to help take care of him and Violet will have someone to help her get out of prostitution.  Though unconventional, Shawn and Violet fight for each other to make their relationship work and be worthy in other people's eyes.  I thought Shawn's relationship with his grandma was the most interesting, especially his connection to church.  I felt like this set up some unrealistic expectations for Shawn.  It was great to see Shawn's grandmother's opinions change as she watched Shawn grow.  With a great pace, characters and heartwarming romance, The Sound of Violet is a great read. 

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. 

At Claflin Academy, a group of five girls deemed The Ivies, have made it their mission to get into the Ivy League school assigned to them by head Ivy, Avery.  Avery has assigned herself Harvard, Emma is Brown, Margot is Princeton, Sierra is Yale and Olivia is Penn.  The Ivies have been ruthless in setting themselves up as perfect Ivy material with perfect SAT scores, club presidencies and elite spots on teams.  Olivia is the outsider of the group, she is at Claflin on scholarship and from a single family household.  The other girls have high powered families and enough money to throw at any problem.  Olivia's dream school has always been Harvard and she decides to apply for Early Decision.  When Early Decision day arrives, Avery is in an uproar after she finds out she was rejected from Harvard and demands to know who stole her spot.  Emma fesses up to being accepted at Harvard and she and Avery get into a physical fight ending with Avery saying she could kill her.  The next morning, Emma is found dead.  Olivia wonders if Avery could be the culprit and if she could be next.  Oliva dives into an investigation of her own and finds that The Ivies are more ruthless than she could ever have imagined. 

The Ivies is a young adult murder mystery thriller set within a private academy.  I loved the premise of an overly competitive group of girls gunning for limited spots in school, I have known girls this competitive before and the personalities are spot on.  Olivia's character was interesting to see in the mix, she knew she was an outsider, but didn't know how much the other girls kept from her.  At the same time Olivia didn't realize how complicit she was in their scheming.  Though the plot was fairly predictable, I still binged this rather quickly.  The writing kept a good pace and I liked Olivia's investigation as well as the fact that she turned things over to the police when she needed to.  I also liked that Olivia was dedicated to trying to find who killed her friend even when it made her look bad in the process.  It was fitting that almost everyone seemed to have a consequence to their actions as well.  With some interesting twists and turns at the end, The Ivies is a suspenseful, atmospheric thriller that once again reminded me that teenage girls are literally the worst.  

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. 

​In the near future, European Bat Lyssavirus-4 causing Virally Induced Hematophagic Predation Syndrome or VIHPS has been accidentally released to the public through the Benjamin Rush Health Initiative.  Causing symptoms such as increased strength, improved healing and the need to ingest human blood.  BRHI has kept the disease and its spread under wraps by hiring a Forced Protection team to identify and eliminate anyone infected.  Infinity DeStard is on a Forced Protection team when she is accidentally infected.  Soon after her infection, Morgan Lorenz, a high-powered trial lawyer comes out to the public saying he has been infected and is suing the corporation that has been hiding the virus.  Infinity sees this as her chance to act as a double agent and save herself from being taken out by her own team.  She finds Lorenz and gives him the lowdown before teaming up with the F-Prot team ordered to kill him.  As Morgan's case gains attention and leverage, Infinity's secret is uncovered, but it may prove to be the best thing in Infinity's life. 

Civil Blood is a vampire story that reads more like a contemporary science-fiction thriller than paranormal.  Elements of the Lyssavirus and how the affected people are treated are especially relevant now as the world faces a very different pandemic.  I was swept up by all of the science of the virus, the spread and the qi force within living things.  The virus definitely seems like it could be something that could pop up any day now and the qi-force, while definitely in the sci-fi realm, was plausible.  The writing is fast paced and kept me interested as the point of view switched between Infinity, Morgan, Ranath, and members of BRHI.  Infinity and Ranath were the most intriguing characters for me.  I loved Infinity's back story, her journey to becoming an F-Prot and her willingness to see both sides. Ranath was more of a mystery and I enjoyed watching Infinity tease information out of him little by little. The BRHI corporation was scarily accurate in the way it acted in trying to defend itself in court by trying to prove that people infected with VIHPS were no longer considered human and could not have Constitutional rights.  I also liked that all of the vampire characters were essentially just normal people, they had a range of traits, backgrounds and personalities and dealt with their diagnosis in a variety of ways.  Gripping and engrossing to read, Civil Blood will draw you in unlike any vampire story you have read before. 

​"Plague closed the theatres again and again, death flickering over the landscape.  And now in a twilight once more lit by candles, the age of electricity having come and gone, Titania turns to face her fairy king."

On the night eight year old Kirsten Raymonde watches famed actor Arthur Leander die onstage playing King Lear, life as she knows it changes forever.  A flu pandemic is sweeping the world, killing people in a matter of days. Those who survived are left in a dangerous world with scarce resources and people rising up to take advantage of others.  Kirsten eventually finds her way into the Travelling Symphony, actors and musicians who travel to different settlements acting out Shakespear's finest.  The survivors that she meets range from good to neutral to bad, and some of them are strangely connected to Kirsten through the actor she once looked up to.  

Station Eleven has been sitting in my TBR for a while and it was really interesting to read it during a pandemic seeing the similarities and differences between the fictional Georgian Flu and the very real COVID-19.  The writing pulled me in and created a world I could easily imagine both pre and post pandemic. I really did enjoy the pacing with quick chapters that jumped back and forth between pre and post pandemic between the connected characters: Kirsten, Jeevan, Arthur, Arthur's wives, and Arthur's son.  I enjoyed the Station Eleven comic and the character's different interpretations of it and how that led them to act differently in the post-pandemic world.  It was interesting to see what people found value in when the world as we know it is changed; the arts, religion, the past of new beginnings that definitely created some deep introspective and reflective moments  I didn't have any expectations going into this book, I didn't dislike anything about it, but it definitely left me wanting more.  
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.